This article is part of our series on responsible mining solutions. The push for clean energy is fueled by a growing demand for minerals, but conventional mining has a track record of harmful social and environmental impacts. Experts are exploring whether deep-sea mining could be a solution to that problem.
The 30th session of the International Seabed Authority talks on global deep-sea mining regulations wrapped up last month, and while arguments were made and sticking points were discussed, no major breakthroughs or developments occured as countries push for laws to govern the industry.
Deep-sea mining fell under the spotlight recently as the world looks for more minerals to power the clean energy transition, and as United States President Donald Trump signed executive orders aimed at advancing the industry and securing a domestic supply of critical minerals.
Many environmental organizations agree with a group of 38 countries — including France, Brazil and Canada — calling for a minimum 10-year moratorium on deep-sea mining. Deep-sea mining companies, however, are frustrated at the snail’s pace of regulatory development and claim that the moratorium movement is trying to kill the industry.
“I don’t think that’s true because I think it overestimates coherence in the moratorium movement,” said Elizabeth Mendenhall, associate professor at the University of Rhode Island and specialist in international ocean governance. “The desire to raise the standards for environmental protection is pushing against the desire to start seabed mining quickly — and it’s hard to see where they could meet in the middle.”
Trying to regulate an unregulated area
The clean energy transition requires a lot of minerals to produce technologies like electric vehicle batteries, solar panels and energy storage. Coincidentally, around two and a half miles below the surface, the ocean floor is rich in nickel, manganese, copper and cobalt — all critical to the clean energy transition.
These minerals are sitting in potato-sized rocks on the ocean floor called polymetallic nodules. The Clarion-Clipperton Zone, an area in the Pacific Ocean between Hawaii and Mexico equal to about half the size of the U.S., is home to more nickel, cobalt and manganese than all land-based reserves combined. While the compound impacts of a commercial deep-sea mining industry are still not fully known, it’s possible that it is less environmentally harmful than mining on land.
International waters are not completely lawless. The United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea entered into force in 1994 and is now ratified by 169 countries. The convention establishes the legal frameworks that govern the world’s oceans. All major countries are parties to this convention except for the United States.
Formed under this convention is the International Seabed Authority, which is commissioned to govern the mineral resources on the seabed. The authority developed robust exploration regulations, but has not yet produced exploitation regulations that would light the path to commercial mining in international waters. To date, there is no commercial deep-sea mining operation anywhere in the world. Throughout July, the authority met in Kingston, Jamaica, for its 30th annual session, but country delegates did not reach an agreement on a complete mining code.
Many stakeholders proposed an adaptive management system to manage commercial mining in international waters, where once commercial mining begins, the regulations can be revised as the actual environmental impacts become clearer.
“Given the inherent uncertainties associated with deep-sea ecosystems, the regulatory framework is designed to be dynamic and responsive,” said Leticia Carvalho, the secretary general of the International Seabed Authority. “The objective is to enable responsible activities while maintaining flexibility to adapt to new scientific findings and technological advancements.”
Who’s in charge?
The International Seabed Authority only controls seabed minerals in international waters. Seabed minerals in countries’ coastal waters or in the exclusive economic zones off their coasts are under that country’s jurisdiction. Some countries that have a wealth of seabed mineral resources, like the Cook Islands, are developing their own mining regulations for those zones.
The U.S. is making a push to mine in international waters. This goes against the International Seabed Authority and UN mandates, but the U.S. government’s argument is that since it never ratified the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea, it doesn’t have to abide by its regulations. Regardless, it’s drumming up interest from mining companies.
The Metals Company, which has explored the deep sea for decades in hopes of eventually receiving a mining license, announced its intentions to file for a mining license through the International Seabed Authority in 2021 in partnership with the island country Nauru. Without established mining regulations, the authority is unable to receive and evaluate the company’s application.
Frustrated by this process, The Metals Company applied for a permit with the U.S. to mine in the Clarion-Clipperton Zone, which falls under the International Seabed Authority’s jurisdiction in international waters. The U.S. is still reviewing the permit, and no decision has been made on whether the application will proceed.
The authority, without explicitly naming these actors, addressed the situation.
“The development of the mining code is an inherently complex and multifaceted process. It requires reaching consensus among member states on a wide range of highly technical, legal, environmental and financial issues,” Carvalho said. “Any actions undertaken outside this multilateral system would be in contravention of the international legal regime.”
The common heritage of mankind
Another difficult part of the process to reconcile is the notion of the “common heritage of mankind.” This guiding principle, which helped found the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea, states that any resources in international waters should benefit all of humanity. It adds another layer of complexity to negotiations and sprouted some creative solutions during regulation talks.
Deciding how to share profits is difficult when it’s unknown how much money deep-sea mining will generate. There was, however, an agreement at the most recent International Seabed Authority meetings to form an economic planning commission to help inform decision-making.
One proposal is a “common heritage fund” that pools contributions from mining countries and disburses funds to other nations. Some countries, like China, prefer a direct payment system to non-mining countries as opposed to a common fund.
Only countries that are party to the UN Law of the Sea Convention may apply for exploration permits in the deep sea. Private companies can apply, but only with sponsorship from one of those party countries, like The Metals Company and Nauru.
When a country or company applies for an exploration permit, which allows them to explore and test the mineral resources of a plot of seabed, they must split that plot into two sections of roughly equal value. One of those plots goes into a reserve bank to be later mined by the “Enterprise” or developing states. This parallel system ensures that the entire seabed doesn’t end up in the hands of a few countries or companies.
The “Enterprise” is a theoretical company that will conduct deep-sea mining for the benefit of humanity. Any profits generated would go to the International Seabed Authority to be disbursed to member states under a not yet determined benefit sharing agreement.
“It’s supposed to be a totally new thing in the international system, where it’s a corporation that does mining on behalf of the whole international community,” Mendenhall said. “It has a director general, but it just hasn’t been formally created.”
It’s a creative approach to satisfying the “common heritage of mankind” principle, but its creation is still far from reality.
What’s next?
Mining companies continue to explore the deep sea, but no concrete pathway to commercial mining exists through the International Seabed Authority yet. And it does not appear that deep-sea mining regulations are on the horizon. The next meeting of the International Seabed Authority will take place in February and March of 2026.
“My understanding is that they’re now going to revise the draft text and have a new draft to work from,” Mendenhall said. “I’m not optimistic that they will resolve the mining code in 2026.”
Featured image credit: International Seabed Authority.
