Exploitation of the Deep Sea, The Last Untouched Ecosystem on Earth
Early last year, the Batnya II, a deep-sea mining machine designed to extract mineral nodules, conducted its first automated launch. Its mission? To tap into the planet’s largest existing reserve of clean materials, helping to commercialize the green energy revolution and the production of electric vehicle batteries. The oligopoly of gas and oil production has been one of the largest capitalized markets, jumping from a global net profit of $1.5 trillion to $4 trillion in the past few years alone. And yet as gas costs rise, so do carbon emissions and the threat of global warming.
In an attempt to curtail the rise of global temperatures, many corporations are rapidly moving towards an energy transition, some saying that is already upon us. It raises the question of how to sustainably manufacture a fleet of clean cars. The need for alternative metals that are used as raw materials to build clean car batteries is dire, the likes of which will help to fuel this green revolution. Yet the extraction of them has caused discourse, as some of the largest caches of such metals lie 300 kilometers below on the deep ocean floor.
Set area where the Norwegian deep sea mining would span.
Image credit: BBC News
Our Common Heritage
The possibility of capitalizing upon these untouched resource deposits has proved promising, so much so that a few well-funded startup companies have already begun extraction. Yet in contrast to their eco-friendly goals, deep-sea mining may prove to have environmental repercussions beyond repair. The harm done to the oceanic ecosystem may be severe and irreversible, actually advancing climate change and threatening biodiversity. Scientists estimate that the mining process could destroy unprotected seabed habitats in the international waters of the Pacific. Deep sea mining of mineral deposits would effectively mutilate our natural world, the impact of which biologists are just beginning to understand.
The greatest stockpile of such mineral deposits is found in the Clarion-Clipperton Zone (CCZ), a mineral-abundant area in the Pacific Ocean spanning roughly 1.7 million square miles from Mexico to Hawaii. Potential excavations have prompted numerous studies to assess the impact of mining in such a fragile ecosystem. In July, an international team of researchers created a ‘CCZ checklist’ to record these impacts, which unexpectedly led to the discovery of 5,578 species– an ‘estimated 89% to 92%’ having never been seen before.
The journal’s lead author, deep-sea ecologist Muriel Rabone, has forewarned parties involved just how irrevocable the damage may be if deep-sea mining firms target the CCZ with the ferocity they have already exhibited. When speaking to The Guardian, she recounted that we “share this planet with all this amazing biodiversity and we have a responsibility to understand it and protect it”. Our shared heritage lies in the 540 million years of preserved history embedded in the nodules’ inner structure, which has remained previously untapped until now.
The Devil We Know is Better Than the Devil We Don’t
In a recent development, Norway has begun authorizing the start of seabed mining operations. Even though there is much unknown about the ecological cost of deep-sea mining, Norway's enthusiasm for expanding mining projects has been met with opposition and high criticism. Norway joins a growing fleet of countries- including Japan, New Zealand, Namibia, and the Cook Islands- that have taken provisory steps towards seabed mining in the last decade.
In doing so, they have unleashed a new industry headed by corporate players such as UK Seabed Resources and DeepGreen. Countries like Norway which had previously relied on the sea for wealth are now monopolizing large-scale offshore oil drilling revenues. This has made Norway one of the most prosperous nations in the world, with their GDP in 2023 rising to $579.27 billion. This has captivated the Norwegian welfare capital, but only sustaining this wealth from oil money. With the push towards a market independent from oil, Norway is looking at being a pioneer of the green energy revolution. The profits from harnessing energy stored in the ocean would be unquestionable and yet may tear our ocean floor apart.
With so many players moving towards the extrication of these untouched mineral reserves, relations between member countries and international institutions are becoming strained. Legislation that would approve seabed mining is up for voting, and the plans proposed by The International Seabed Authority (ISA), a branch of the UN, would require regulation implementation before the first real extraction while still allowing countries to go ahead with their mining agendas. The ISA is under scrutiny as it is recognized as having contradictory motives, as it is meant to maintain the neutrality of the international waters, and approving the legislation would allow countries proceeding with deep sea mining to have sovereignty over certain areas. The impact that approving these contracts will have is one of critical concern for some.
In November of 2023, the European Union (EU) made an unusual move, 120 lawmakers signed an open letter going against the motions of the ISA and calling the Norwegian government to halt the mining project as it “risks… marine biodiversity and the acceleration of climate change.” It ultimately determined that Norway lacks a nuanced understanding of the consequential effects of deep-sea mining and the damage it will do outweighs the benefits. The Norwegian government has also met resistance from the scientific community. The Norway Institute of Marine Research (IMR) has stated that the negative implications outlined in the collective research have overtaken their aspirations for what can be achieved by exploiting the ocean floor. It will be another decade or so before we glean even a fraction of the reality of seabed mining’s impacts, and to begin now could cause irreversible damage.
Batnya prototype launch test
Image Credit: Global Sea Mineral Resources
‘Green Economy’ or Repeated History?
Campaigners against the plan such as the World Wildlife Foundation are working to ban ocean mining completely. Kaja Leonnd Fjaertoft, a Norwegian WWF marine biologist says that the ocean’s preservation is of “vitality to us all; risking ocean health is gambling our future.” The WWF advocates that battery manufacturing can be achieved by recycling old mobile phones, providing the same result with a less invasive method.
With the EU taking a stance to delay seabed mining, the ISA still denies its conflict of interest in the finalization of legislation that could hinder associated projects. Several countries, including China, are hopeful that the ISA will press on in advancing mining. Many countries are concerned about the ecological welfare of coastlines, but Norway and Japan’s ambitions have made the topic delicate. A Norwegian Parliamentary bill passed on January 9th has “accelerated the hunt for precious metals” that could become “irreversible on a multi-generational timescale”.
Misdirectional Footsteps
Martin Webler, oceans campaigner and researcher at the Environmental Justice Foundation, states that the horizon of climate preservation is interdependent on those who will lead us through it. Many believe this issue must exercise voting rights as public opinion must be consulted to determine the path we follow for major renewable energy choices. Many scientists believe their current role is to inform on the effects seabed mining may have on all habitats.
The film ‘Deep Rising’ by director Matthieu Rytz is a chilling documentary providing insight into the geo-political maneuvers being made by corporations in profit-motivated pursuit of extracting minerals. Rytz’s piece puts forward the idea that the developed world cannot sustain itself on a constant hunger to push the boundaries of human capability. The connection between the ocean and life is not lightly erased. As the narrator, Jason Momoa captures in the film, pursuing new energy sources is a futile effort if the price paid destroys all chances of remedying the damage created by the automobile revolution. Deep-sea mining is a replication of the destructive practice of oil mining that has been in operation for decades. And those pushing for it are using tactics eerily reminiscent of those used by oil companies.
Coincidentally, the very same kingpins head these operations: rebranded oil corporation tycoons who regard the ocean as the final frontier in our conquest for natural resources. The opposition to these mining projects has the sole intent of breaking the continuity of resource extraction to power the world’s massive energy consumption. Evident in the several nations fighting for the extraction legitimacy is a parallel to the very conflict of humanity: is it our despotic need for innovation that will be responsible for all our innovations, or our footsteps that desecrate the natural world?