Reducing carbon emissions can’t come at the expense of our oceans

A showdown over the future of the world’s oceans and its hidden resources has been building over the past few years. 

The global community recently finalized a new United Nations (UN) treaty to conserve and sustainably manage marine biodiversity on the high seas and the deep seabed, yet at the same time the world seems poised to begin mining mineral resources in these regions to help fuel the electric revolution needed to reduce carbon emissions. 

We face a consequential choice: Will we finally protect the unique and fragile organisms found in the largest and least disturbed ecosystem on Earth? Or, in an attempt to curb the damage already caused by fossil fuels, will we destroy these species and habitats they depend upon before we have even discovered them? 

The regions beyond national jurisdiction encompass nearly two-thirds of the planet, and scientists estimate that they contain over 2.2 million species, 90 percent of which have yet to be classified. More than 80 percent of the world’s oceans are unmapped, unobserved, and unexplored. There are not only new and wondrous plants and creatures to be discovered in the deep sea, but also new drugs and treatments derived from this rich biodiversity, which are helping us combat cancer and HIV.

In 2021, the Pacific island nation Nauru triggered a mechanism under the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea, which gave the International Seabed Authority (the mining regulatory body under the Convention) two years to finalize rules for mining the deep sea, or else unregulated mining could begin. In the time since, negotiations have been fraught, and we passed the deadline in July 2023 without a solution. Formal discussions will continue next year, aimed at adopting regulations in 2025. 

Meanwhile, several nations, environmental organizations, and even businesses are calling for a moratorium on mining until it can be managed in a way that will ensure effective protection of the marine environment. Over 20 countries have called for a pause on deep-sea mining, led by the Federated States of Micronesia, Fiji, Palau and Samoa, which have formed a “Moratorium Alliance.” Additionally, more than 30 companies and businesses support a moratorium, including electric vehicle manufacturers such as BMW, Volkswagen, and Volvo; technology companies including Google and Samsung; some financial and retail institutions; and part of the tuna fishing industry. 

The new UN treaty is an important threshold for conserving life in the oceans by providing a mechanism to protect vulnerable species and their habitats through the use of “area-based management tools”, such as marine protected areas (i.e. parks in the oceans). It also builds a framework for humanity to share the benefits derived from marine genetic resources, the building blocks for new medicines and other biological products yet to be discovered/developed. 

However, the impacts of mining threaten the treaty’s potential success. Vacuuming nodules off the sea floor will cause drifting plumes of sediment that smother filter feeding species such as deep-sea corals and sponges. Dumping wastewater back into the ocean adds to this threat, polluting it with contaminants. Mining seamounts and hydrothermal vents will destroy the habitats that grew there over thousands of years and the species that depend upon them. Industrial activities will also add to the growing threats of ocean noise, vibration, and light pollution that significantly impact life in the oceans.

Arguments for ocean mining as a more “sustainable” or “just” approach to mining on land are misleading. While we need batteries for electric cars and storing wind and solar power, there are alternatives to using cobalt and nickel-based lithium-ion batteries, including new approaches that use fewer and less damaging metals. We can invest in hydrogen and biofuel technologies and recycle old batteries. Given these advances, investing in deep-sea mining may even be a bad economic decision.

It doesn’t make sense to repeat the destructive legacy of terrestrial mining in the oceans. Instead, we must find greener solutions and fuel a sustainable energy transition, simultaneously holding the terrestrial mining industry accountable. 

While the list of countries and industries hesitant toward plundering the oceans is promising, citizens must also join the chorus and demand a say in how the largest and least-known ecosystem on the planet will be treated.

In an uncertain climate future, the oceans provide a vital buffer. As a “carbon sink,” they have already absorbed 25 percent of our carbon dioxide emissions and 90 percent of the excess heat generated by them. The oceans also generate half of the oxygen we breathe, and absorbing carbon and heat has impacted their ability to sustain life. For our own well-being and food security, as well as the rich biological resources and the potential medicines we may yet derive from them, we must look to other solutions and ban mining in the deep sea.

Elizabeth M. De Santo, associate professor of environmental studies at Franklin & Marshall College, is a member of the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) World Commission on Environmental Law and a member of the editorial board of Marine Policy.