The destructive branch of industry called “mining” is preparing to “open up” one of the last untouched spheres of life on earth for its purposes: the deep sea. This is considered by experts and activists to be a serious environmental threat. Science journalist and marine biologist Olive Heffernan writes in a must-read article:
We are about to begin a green gold rush, where rare metals needed for the transition to a low-carbon economy will be mined from deep seas.
Exemplifying the predatory and irresponsible push is The Metals Company (TMC), a Vancouver start-up that plans to operate in the Clarion-Clipperton Zone (CCZ) as early as early 2024. The CCZ stretches between Hawaii and Mexico and covers 4.5 million square kilometers, which is 60 percent of the area of Australia.
The TMC sees deep-sea mining as a rare opportunity to develop previously untapped deposits of valuable ores that are needed for the development and expansion of supposedly green technologies, i.e. electric cars, solar cells or wind turbines. The Company estimates that the quantities of nickel, copper, cobalt and manganese ores mined in its claimed CCZ areas are sufficient to produce more than 250 million electric car batteries.
However, there are many concerns about the ecological consequences, especially since, as mentioned, there are still no rules for deep-sea mining in this part of the Pacific. There is a risk of local species becoming extinct; including species that have not yet been scientifically recorded. A recent study has shown that almost 90 percent of the animal species discovered in the CCZ were previously completely unknown to experts.
The list of irreparable environmental pollution is long. There will also be catastrophic consequences for fishing.
The author also explains that actors like TMC do not want to wait until the rules are in place. They will use any legal loopholes they can to advance their business in partnership with small island nations.
It is high time to question both the capitalist policy of “green conversion” and to join forces in civil society to stop the deep sea from being transformed into an extractivist El Dorado.