In a brazen move intended to bypass the authority of the United Nations International Seabed Authority (ISA), on April 24 the United States announced an executive order to launch deep-sea mining (DSM) in both U.S. and international waters claiming the U.S. has an “energy supply emergency.” The mining targets an area of the Pacific Ocean known as the Clarion Clipperton Zone (CCZ) which is just 500 miles south of Hawaiʻi Island and well outside of U.S. jurisdiction.
The announcement was met with swift and strong international rebuke.
“This executive order is yet another bid to give away our nation’s public lands and waters, this time coupled with an attempt to circumvent international law to exploit our shared global oceans for corporate profits,” said Addie Haughey in a statement from Earthjustice.
Arlo Hemphill of Greenpeace USA said: “Authorizing deep-sea mining outside international law threatens ecosystems, global cooperation, and U.S. credibility all at once. We condemn this administration’s attempt to launch this destructive industry on the high seas in the Pacific by bypassing the United Nations process.”
Apparently, the U.S. has been in talks with representatives of The Metals Company, a Canadian mining company for several months. The Metals Company has been aggressively pursuing deep-sea mining in the CCZ for years, initially partnering with the tiny Pacific Island nation of Nauru because under the ISA only countries, not corporations, can apply for a deep-sea mining permit.
Nauru applied for a permit in June 2021, however there is strong worldwide opposition to DSM and no permits have been granted.
At least 32 countries have called for a ban or moratorium on deep-sea mining until more is understood about its ecological impact. And more than 750 leading marine science and policy experts representing more than 44 countries have spoken out against deep-sea mining, which has been compared to strip-mining in the ocean.
In 1989, an experiment to simulate deep-sea mining and its impact was conducted in the Pacific Ocean off of Peru, South America; 26 years later, the seabed ecosystem there has still not recovered.
“This is a clear case of putting mining companies’ greed over common sense. Any attempt to accelerate deep-sea mining without proper safeguards will only speed up the destruction of our oceans,” said Dr. Katie Matthews, Oceana chief scientist and senior vice president.
“Mining the seafloor can cause irreparable harm to delicate ecosystems, which themselves are vital to ocean economies. We should be protecting, not undermining, the health of our oceans.”
Hawaiʻi leaders have taken a strong stand against DSM. Last July, Gov. Josh Green signed SB 2575 into law as Act 228 which prohibits deep-sea mining in Hawaiʻi. The Hawaiʻi State Legislature found that DSM “is not consistent with the public interest, including the right that each person has to a clean and healthy environment.”
In addition to Hawaiʻi, the Pacific Coast states of California, Oregon and Washington have also passed bans on DSM in their waters.
In a statement issued in late March, ISA Secretary General Leticia Carvalho reiterated that the ISA holds exclusive control over all activities in the international seabed areas beyond national jurisdictions and that “any unilateral actions would violate international law and directly undermine the fundamental principles of multilateralism, the peaceful use of the oceans and the collective governance framework established under UNCLOS (the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea).”
The Discovery of “Dark Oxygen”
Oxygen is being produced in the deep sea by the polymetallic nodules coveted by mining companies
An unexpected scientific discovery, published in a report last July just ahead of the 29th session of the United Nations (UN) International Seabed Authority (ISA), strongly supports the arguments of Indigenous Pacific Islanders and conservation scientists who oppose deep-sea mining (DSM).
The report documents evidence of what is being called “dark oxygen” – oxygen that is being produced in complete darkness on the ocean floor at depths of up to 3.5 miles. Even more remarkable is the fact that the polymetallic nodules being targeted by proponents of deep-sea mining appear to be central to the production of this deep-water oxygen.
Scientists hypothesize that the polymetallic nodules – comprised of precious metals like cobalt, nickel and copper – may be producing oxygen through a process similar to electrolysis. The nodules seem to be acting like batteries, producing electricity through chemical reactions that split seawater (H2O) into hydrogen (H2) and oxygen (O2).
Our oceans produce an estimated 50-70% of the Earth’s oxygen – and until this study was published, it was assumed that this was exclusively through the process of photosynthesis, when phytoplankton (microscopic plants) near the surface of the ocean convert carbon dioxide and sunlight into oxygen and glucose.
The discovery of dark oxygen produced on the ocean floor challenges current scientific understandings of oxygen production on Earth.
Solomon Kahoʻohalahala from Lānaʻi has emerged as an international leader in the fight to prevent deep-sea mining. His message to the world leaders who want to plunder our oceans for profit is based on the Kumulipo (Hawaiʻi’s creation chant) – that the ocean floor is a sacred place of creation from which all life began.
To him, the scientific revelation that oxygen is being created on the seafloor is an affirmation of the Kumulipo by western science.
“What came to mind the moment I learned about it was that it says in the Kumulipo, ʻhānau Kumulipo i ka pō he kāne; hānau Pōʻele i ka pō he wahine,’ (born was Kumulipo in the night a male; born was Pōʻele in the night a female). But it’s language spoken in metaphors. Kumulipo and Pōʻele are not entities, they’re opposing forms of energy, and they come into play at the very bottom of the ocean with this opportunity to create life.”
, on April 24 the United States announced an executive order to launch deep-sea mining (DSM) in both U.S. and international waters claiming the U.S. has an “energy supply emergency.”){kind=link}