"Desperate And Deceitful"- Deep Sea Mining Frontrunner Turns Its Back On Pacific Nations

Greenpeace has slammed deep sea mining frontrunner The Metals Company (TMC) as "desperate and deceitful" after it announced plans to bypass procedure at the International Seabed Authority (ISA) by applying for a mining licence under the US mining code, effectively turning its back on its Pacific sponsoring states.

The announcement rocked the ISA meeting in Kingston, Jamaica, on its penultimate day, with TMC due to have its mining application agenda item heard early tomorrow. TMC’s decision to use the United States’ Deep Sea Hard Mineral Resources Act (DSHMRA) encourages an undermining of - and could be in breach of - international law [1].

Juressa Lee, deep sea mining spokesperson for Greenpeace Aotearoa, said the move was deceitful for governments in the Pacific with whom it had promised to work with, but not surprising and completely on-brand for predatory, extractive industries like wannabe deep sea miners.

"The people of Nauru, Kiribati and Tonga have been subjected to propaganda promising jobs, economic prosperity and false climate solutions. but all along TMC has only ever been driven by one thing: to fill its own pockets with dirty money at the expense of Pacific Peoples and the deep ocean.

"The move leaves Nauru, Kiribati and Tonga in the lurch, and is an insult to multilateralism. TMC has been trying to bully the international community at the ISA to serve its greedy agenda, pressuring and deceiving Pacific governments with the promise of a brighter, greener future. But TMC has finally revealed its true self.

"Deep sea mining is in trouble. TMC is taking any avenue to push through their desperate and dying agenda even if it could breach international law. Desperation breeds deceit, and TMC has never been more desperate. This move by TMC highlights the need for a moratorium or precautionary pause.

"Currently, 32 countries have backed a moratorium or precautionary pause on deep sea mining, including Tuvalu, Palau, Solomon Islands, Marshall Islands, Fiji, the Federated States of Micronesia, Vanuatu and Samoa, with the New Zealand government position closely aligned to our courageous Pacific neighbours.

"Pacific Peoples have always been leaders on the world stage when it comes to protecting the ocean. Any discussion and decision-making on the future of the ocean must centre the rights of Indigenous Pacific communities and be led by their lived experiences and Indigenous knowledge systems, as the first custodians of the moana. The Pacific Ocean requires it, and our governments must act on it."

Notes:

[1] The United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea 1982 has 170 parties, which are the vast majority of all States. It is known as the constitution for the oceans. After the United States and others had various issues with the concluded convention and concluded a further Agreement (Agreement relating to the Implementation of Part XI of the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea of 10 December 1982) which is known as the 1994 Agreement which was specifically about deep-sea mining - Part XI of UNCLOS. The United States has signed the 1994 Agreement, and most countries agree that UNCLOS is customary international law, so the US is still bound by UNCLOS and particularly Part XI. UNCLOS has numerous crucial parts, addressing maritime boundaries, the freedom of navigation, management of fisheries, pollution, environmental protection and marine scientific research as well as deep-sea mining.

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