In the bustling heart of New York City, where the pulse of global capitalism beats strongest, Greenpeace USA illuminated a towering LED Billboard with a crucial message for the Biden administration and investors: "Stop Deep-Sea Mining."
As an ocean campaigner with Greenpeace, every pixel of that display resonates with me as a beacon of hope in the ongoing battle to safeguard our oceans.
My connection to the ocean runs deep. From my childhood in Coastal California, where the ocean is a central part of our culture and economy, to the privilege I've enjoyed as a campaigner to explore its depths and sail its vast expanses, marveling at its mysteries and the incredible creatures that call it home, to the unparalleled joy of teaching my grandchildren to snorkel. The ocean is far more than a collection of resources to be exploited; it's a living, breathing entity that sustains life on Earth, and it's our duty to protect it.
With our oceans, climate, and planet facing crises, we cannot afford to take unnecessary risks with another ill-conceived and needlessly destructive industry.
And now our oceans, which have already been pushed to the brink, face a new and urgent peril: Deep-Sea Mining. Driven by the insatiable thirst for profit, this industry is poised to unravel the delicate tapestry of life in the most pristine ecosystem on our planet: the deep seas. This is one of the last places in the world that is largely untouched by human activity, a place where scientists are just now discovering thousands of new species, and it's crucial to all life on our planet. In its wake, deep-sea mining could collectively impact an oceanic area greater than the size of the continental U.S. and worsen the already critical state of the world's oceans.
Over 2.8 million people worldwide have signed the
Greenpeace petition calling for a moratorium on deep-sea mining because this is about more than just preserving habitats and safeguarding species—it's about protecting a part of ourselves.
We are not alone. The industry faces resistance from
international investors and major banks, who have refused to fund deep-sea mining. Businesses such as Google, BMW, Volvo, and Renault have all called for a pause. Governments around the world, the United Nations human rights commissioner, fishing interests, battery manufacturers, Indigenous groups, and thousands of climate and youth activists have also raised objections. As a result, deep-sea mining didn't get the "green light" that was expected at an international meeting last year.
But the threat remains.
Today, as I stand in Times Square surrounded by flashy billboards, our call to protect the ocean stands alongside the seven-story Nasdaq Billboard where The Metals Company (TMC), a leading proponent of deep-sea mining, previously broadcast its entry as a Nasdaq-traded company, and I am reminded of the gravity of what's at stake. The ocean provides over 70% of the oxygen we breathe. It is an essential carbon sink that has helped us to regulate the climate even in the face of our increasing production of greenhouse gasses—buffering us from the worse impacts of climate change.
But it's what we don't know that should give us pause about launching an industry with irreversible impacts in a critical life-sustaining environment. Mining in the
Clarion-Clipperton Zone could have unknown impacts on the ocean's carbon cycle. Extracting nodules, disrupting marine habitats, and generating sediment plumes from mining activities may disrupt carbon sequestration and hinder oxygen-producing processes.
This should worry investors buying into the industry's hyperbole of expected returns as, judging from the surge in climate change and biodiversity cases, they could face both litigation and business model risks. Countries, communities, and other stakeholders impacted by seabed mining—like fishing communities—can pursue their perceived losses in international, regional, and national courts.
Until recently, The Metals Company CEO Gerard Barron actively sought investment and political support, promoting seafloor polymetallic nodules as a pivotal resource for electric vehicles, dubbing them a "battery in a rock." However, with the
evolution of battery technology diminishing the purported necessity for seafloor minerals coupled with a notable decline in metal prices, and after failing to persuade people that deep-sea minerals are needed to fight climate change, these reckless opportunists have turned their sights on the Pentagon. They are now exploiting geopolitical tensions as they cite China as an alternative market if the U.S. won't help them open the gates to the new extractive industry.
Recently, former military and government officials who should know better lent their names to a letter that supports the right thing for the wrong reasons. The letter, echoing The Metals Company's fear-mongering rhetoric, calls
for the U.S. to ratify the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) to spur the country's interest in deep-sea mining amid competition with China for critical minerals. There are numerous good reasons for the U.S. to ratify UNCLOS, and being able to vote for a moratorium on deep-sea mining should be at the top of that list.
Instead, The Metals Company is aiming to get deep-sea mining started, ignoring all the reasons not to, possibly because their Nasdaq stock price just hasn't been able to get back up since their bellowing beginning. They
announced they will submit an application to begin commercial deep-sea mining following the meeting of the International Seabed Authority this month - even though the organization is very unlikely to adopt a regulatory framework to permit mining this year.
Rather than cowering to an aggressive company seeking to profit off devastating an ocean ecosystem we barely understand, the U.S. government should focus on its responsibility to extend protections for our oceans. Investing billions of dollars in an untested and destructive industry like deep-sea mining is not the answer. It's 2024, a time when prospectors are beginning to look out to other planets for new resources. We have already done so much damage to this blue planet we call Earth, the only place known to harbor life. Isn't it time to finally prioritize preserving the rich life-giving oceans that sustain us? Instead of deep-sea mining, a better choice would be supporting innovative technology and scaling the recycling and reuse of batteries and minerals that are already making this industry obsolete.
It doesn't make sense to destroy little-understood ecosystems just to add a small percentage of world metals production. Investors should be cautious against falling for the poorly veiled greenwashing narrative. With our oceans, climate, and planet facing crises, we cannot afford to take unnecessary risks with another ill-conceived and needlessly destructive industry.
We call on U.S. President Joe Biden to support a moratorium on deep-sea mining and join the other 27 countries that have opposed this industry. This will ensure that corporations like TMC do not destroy another global resource that belongs to us all.
The choices we make today will echo through the generations. Will we choose to exploit the depths of our oceans for profit and weapons of war, or will we unite to protect and preserve the precious blue heart of our planet? The power to decide lies in our collective hands.
