The destructive industry called “mining” is preparing to “open up” one of the last untouched spheres of life on our earth for its own purposes: the deep sea. This is seen by experts and activists as a serious environmental threat. Science journalist and marine biologist Olive Heffernan writes in an article that is definitely worth reading:
We are on the verge of a green gold rush, with rare metals needed for the transition to a climate-friendly economy being mined at great depths of the ocean.
An example of this predatory and irresponsible move is The Metals Company (TMC), a start-up from Vancouver that wants to be active in the Clarion-Clipperton Zone (CCZ) as early as the beginning of 2024. The CCZ stretches between Hawaii and Mexico and covers 4.5 million square kilometers, which is 60 percent of Australia’s area.
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, such as electric cars, solar cells or wind turbines. The company estimates that the quantities of nickel, copper, cobalt and manganese ores mined in the CCZ areas it claims are enough 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 area 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 impacts 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 regulations are in place. They will use every possible loophole in the law to advance their business in collaboration with small island states.
It is high time to question the capitalist politics of “green conversion” and to join forces in civil society to stop the transformation of the deep sea into an extractivist El Dorado.