Canadian Company Seeking Trump’s Approval To Mine Seabed Condemned By Regulators

By Todd Woody Mar 29 (Bloomberg) -International regulators on Friday condemned a seabed mining company’s move to circumvent their authority by seeking the Trump administration’s approval to extract critical minerals from untouched ocean ecosystems.  The Metals Company (TMC) on Thursday said it had initiated a process to obtain a US government license to mine metals used in green technologies from a region of the Pacific Ocean controlled by the International Seabed Authority (ISA), the United Nations-affiliated organization that regulates the exploitation of the deep sea. The announcement came as ISA delegates were meeting in Kingston, Jamaica, to draft rules for how companies should go about mining a vast swath of the ocean outside the jurisdiction of any one nation.  Related Article: US Claims Huge Chunk of Seabed Amid Strategic Push For Resources ISA Secretary-General Leticia Carvalho and members of the organization’s 36-nation Council policymaking body denounced TMC’s action, saying it defied the organization’s authority over 54% of the global seabed and its mandate to manage it for the benefit of humanity.  “Any unilateral action would constitute a violation of international law and directly undermine the fundamental principles of multilateralism,” Carvalho, a Brazilian oceanographer who took office in January, told the delegates. A decision by the Trump administration to issue a seabed mining license for an ISA-controlled area could upend an international treaty that governs deep-sea mining and other commercial uses of the world’s oceans. TMC holds an ISA license sponsored by member state Nauru to explore for minerals but has grown frustrated by decade-long negotiations to draft regulations governing mining biodiverse deep-sea ecosystems. TMC and other ISA-licensed companies can’t begin mining until regulations are enacted. The two-week Council meeting ended on Friday with contentious issues unresolved, including how to protect marine life in areas targeted for mining.  The company is now seeking permission from the Trump administration to mine