Draft:Geopolitics of Deep-Sea Mining

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Geopolitics of Deep-Sea Mining[edit]

The geopolitics of deep-sea mining is the area of geopolitics that focuses on deep sea mining. Deep sea mining is the mining activity which constitutes to mine minerals and rare metals in the deep seabed. As the demand in minerals is exponentially growing, deep-sea mining has become political matter involving multiple actors, private and public. According to Cédric Tellenne, “Geopolitics allows us to shed light on the power strategies deployed by these actors, whether they are state or non-state, within specific territories”.[1]. But some argue that deep sea mining goes beyond geopolitics in the sense that we cannot apply the same rules and regulations in the ocean as on land[2]. While the growing interest in mining polymetallic modules becomes important, the rules and regulations concerning deep sea mining remain unclear.

History[edit]

The interest of the mining of polymetallic nodules began in the mid-1960s with the publishing of J.L. Mero’s book Mineral resources of the sea[3]. He demonstrated that the ocean has potential in mining activities as polymetallic nodules have been discovered. However, it is only between 1972 and 1982 that leading powers have put efforts into mining modules. Indeed, France, Germany, the USA, and the USSR have led multiple successful exploring missions. But as the prices of land metals and the metallurgy industry dropped, the idea of mining the deep seabed was abandoned[4]. It is in 1997 in Papua New Guinea where a Canadian Company Nautilus Minerals Ltd concretely began a mining mission, commonly known as Solwara 1. As the regulatory framework to get an extraction license was (and still remains) unclear, PNG took the lead into the legal framework of their mining activities and granted exploration and mining licenses to Nautilus Minerals Ltd[5]. Many agreements have been passed between PNG and Nautilus Minerals Ltd and starting the exploration under PNG laws and rules. However, in 2019, Nautilus Minerals Ltd filed for bankruptcy leaving PNG with a loss of $120 million[6]. Nevertheless, it is important to note that neither the PNG government, nor Nautilus Minerals Ltd have released public records of the Solwara 1 project, as it is required by law. Today, the International Seabed Authority is granting exploration licenses, but no concrete deep sea mining activities are ongoing.

Regulatory Framework[edit]

As the rules and regulations concerning ocean governance are numerous, so are they for deep sea mining. Indeed, all regulatory framework concerning the ocean is overseen by the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS); the resources and all activities conducted in the “Area” (the deep seabed as defined in UNCLOS) are regulated by the International Seabed Authority (ISA); and anything within the continental shelves are subject to national jurisdiction[7]. As those regulatory frameworks were created to regulate ocean governance, the ISA is now developing a ‘Mining Code’ due to the growing interest in deep sea mining. Moreover, an englobing concept is motivating the ISA to develop this Mining code, “the common heritage of mankind”. Indeed, as defined and stated in UNCLOS, this “common heritage of mankind” states that the area should be used for the greater good of mankind; whether it is to develop new technologies or contribute to developing countries’ economy[8][9].

According to the ISA, there are three stages to deep sea mining: prospecting, exploring, and exploiting. In the early 2000s, the ISA focused on a set of regulations concerning the prospecting and exploring stage of deep-sea mining, depending on the type of mineral an actor has found. It is only in 2021 that the final draft for exploration regulation has been written while making a total of 34 suggestions[10] making stakeholders fully transparent on their DSM activities, an engagement to preserve maritime life and to engage with the scientific community[11], and finally calls for an improvement in transparency within the ISA’s rules and regulations.

Let us keep in mind that the final draft of the mining code has never been officially released which leaves great room for interpretation when engaging in deep-sea mining activities. Furthermore, the ISA cannot make a concrete set of rules and regulations knowing that even the scientific community does not have enough knowledge and data to estimate DSM practices in the deep seabed.

Geopolitical importance[edit]

Though DSM involves many actors, its geopolitical importance comes from the growing need for minerals for the world’s need in electrical batteries. Indeed, as some parts of the world are facing energy shortages, companies and states are starting to turn towards electrical solutions. According to a World Bank report, nearly 500% more rare metals minerals should be needed in order to provide security over energy providing. That is when the minerals in the deep seabed become political while involving many public and private actors to develop new technologies[12]

Geopolitical challenges[edit]

Let us note that literature concerning deep sea mining, and more specifically the geopolitical challenges, is very poor.

The main challenge concerning deep-sea mining remains the want of stakeholders to territorialize the ocean. Indeed, as the history of the ocean and its governance already involved the ownership of trade routes, it was only towards the end of the 20th century that the ocean became a free territory owned by no states[13]. As the economic interest in DSM is growing, the need for more regulatory frameworks concerning ocean governance is urgent. Indeed, leading powers such as China are expanding their territorial waters for mining and military purposes, creating conflicts with the neighboring countries. Moreover, under UNCLOS, coastal states have full sovereign rights to their continental shelves, allowing them to forgo the exploration and mining of their resources under their jurisdiction. However, sovereign rights do not mean full sovereignty. This leaves many coastal states’ regulations not in accordance with UNCLOS and creates ambiguity between coastal states[14].

  1. ^ Tellenne, Cédric (2019-09-19). Introduction à la géopolitique. Repères. La Découverte. doi:10.3917/dec.telle.2019.01. ISBN 978-2-348-04586-8. S2CID 241629146.
  2. ^ Probyn, Elspeth (2023-07-04). "Aqua/geopolitical conjuncture and disjuncture: invasion, resources, and mining the deep dark sea". Cultural Studies. 37 (4): 696–717. doi:10.1080/09502386.2023.2173793. ISSN 0950-2386.
  3. ^ Mero, John L. (1965). The mineral resources of the sea. Elsevier oceanography series. Amsterdam New York: Elsevier Pub. Co. ISBN 978-0-444-40394-0.
  4. ^ Glasby, G.P. (2000). "Lessons Learned from Deep-Sea Mining". Science. 289 (5479): 551–553. doi:10.1126/science.289.5479.551. ISSN 0036-8075. JSTOR 3077509. PMID 17832066. S2CID 129268215.
  5. ^ Filer, Colin; Gabriel, Jennifer (2018-09-01). "How could Nautilus Minerals get a social licence to operate the world's first deep sea mine?". Marine Policy. 95: 394–400. doi:10.1016/j.marpol.2016.12.001. ISSN 0308-597X. S2CID 157247707.
  6. ^ Allen, Colin Filer, Jennifer Gabriel, Matthew G. (2020-04-27). "How PNG lost US$120 million and the future of deep-sea mining". Devpolicy Blog from the Development Policy Centre. Retrieved 2023-12-31.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  7. ^ Willaert, Klaas (2021). "Regulating Deep Sea Mining". SpringerBriefs in Law. doi:10.1007/978-3-030-82834-9. ISBN 978-3-030-82833-2. ISSN 2192-855X. S2CID 239753495.
  8. ^ "Overview - Convention & Related Agreements". www.un.org. Retrieved 2023-12-31.
  9. ^ Bourrel, Marie; Thiele, Torsten; Currie, Duncan (September 2018). "The common of heritage of mankind as a means to assess and advance equity in deep sea mining". Marine Policy. 95: 311–316. doi:10.1016/j.marpol.2016.07.017. S2CID 157456123.
  10. ^ Blanchard, Catherine; Harrould-Kolieb, Ellycia; Jones, Emily; Taylor, Michelle L. (2023-01-01). "The current status of deep-sea mining governance at the International Seabed Authority". Marine Policy. 147: 105396. doi:10.1016/j.marpol.2022.105396. ISSN 0308-597X.
  11. ^ Amon, Diva J.; Gollner, Sabine; Morato, Telmo; Smith, Craig R.; Chen, Chong; Christiansen, Sabine; Currie, Bronwen; Drazen, Jeffrey C.; Fukushima, Tomohiko; Gianni, Matthew; Gjerde, Kristina M.; Gooday, Andrew J.; Grillo, Georgina Guillen; Haeckel, Matthias; Joyini, Thembile (2022-04-01). "Assessment of scientific gaps related to the effective environmental management of deep-seabed mining". Marine Policy. 138: 105006. doi:10.1016/j.marpol.2022.105006. ISSN 0308-597X.
  12. ^ Childs, John (2020-01-01). "Extraction in Four Dimensions: Time, Space and the Emerging Geo(-)politics of Deep-Sea Mining". Geopolitics. 25 (1): 189–213. doi:10.1080/14650045.2018.1465041. ISSN 1465-0045.
  13. ^ Steinberg, Philip E. (September 2018). "The ocean as frontier". International Social Science Journal. 68 (229–230): 237–240. doi:10.1111/issj.12152. ISSN 0020-8701. S2CID 149457898.
  14. ^ Iglesias, Matías (2017-10-27). "UNCLOS and territorialization of the seas: the case of Indian and Pacific Oceans". Journal de Ciencias Sociales (9). doi:10.18682/jcs.v0i9.659. ISSN 2362-194X.
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