The Council of the International Seabed Authority (AIFM) concluded its third meeting of the year on Friday 11 November in Jamaica. According to this body, this is a sign that the work to establish a regulation setting the conditions for the commercial exploitation of mineral resources in the great depths, in the high seas, is intensifying. A new session is moreover scheduled for March 2023. But during the ten days of discussion of this 27e session, doubt and division seem to have crept in among the 168 member states, according to environmental NGOs which follow the progress of a mining code supposed to be completed by the end of 2023.
Many participants thus wonder whether it is very reasonable to go and extract sulphides and polymetallic nodules, as well as cobalt-rich crusts from the ocean floor, several thousand meters below the surface, to disturb ecosystems largely unknown and which would suffer irreversible damage to meet the technological needs of humans? “It is evident that mining will, to some extent, have consequences on the marine environment, especially near mining activities,” recognizes Michael Lodge, secretary general of the AIFM, on the organization’s website. He quotes the “destruction of living organisms, loss of habitat and formation of sediment plumes”to which are added the consequences of hydraulic leaks, damage to living things generated by noise and light.
However, the very reason for the creation of this UN body in 1994 is precisely to supervise and organize the distribution of permits for the exploration and exploitation of the seabed, taking into account the interests of the least developed countries. Its status also implies that its secretariat, based in Kingston, Jamaica, can collect royalties from the licenses it issues in order to finance its operation. But in almost thirty years, the context is no longer the same: the interest of civil society, politicians and the media is growing in this dossier, as the effects of climate change and the decline of biodiversity emerge.
Several countries want to slow down the race to the abyss
Until now, the question of the exploitation of the deep sea beyond waters under national jurisdiction has mainly occupied lawyers and diplomats in technical negotiations down to the comma. This time, several representatives of governments such as those of Switzerland, Denmark and Finland were exceptionally present. Several countries have expressed their desire to slow down the looming race to the abyss by asking for a “precautionary break”the time to acquire knowledge about these environments, or even a “moratorium”a term that suggests a longer duration, while others, such as India for example, are asking for the renewal of their exploration permits.
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