CONFERENCE ON DEEP SEABED MINERAL MINING
December 17, 2021
10:00 am - 2:00 pm EST
Hosted Virtually over Zoom Webinars
In June of 2021, the country of Nauru invoked the "two-year rule" of the International Seabed Authority (ISA), the intergovernmental body tasked with governing the mining of minerals in international waters. In doing this, they have expressed their intent to apply for an exploitation permit in the summer of 2023, giving the ISA two years to complete its mining regulations. After years spent crafting this rulebook, it finally has a deadline; the possibility of seabed mining commencing is more imminent than ever before.
Proponents of seabed mining often cite the need for seabed minerals in order to manufacture clean energy technologies like electric vehicle batteries. However, significant gaps still exist in scientists' understanding of the ecological impacts of seabed mining. Opponents of mining say that it needs to be delayed until scientific understanding is sufficient to guarantee that catastrophic environmental impacts will not result.
2021 conference speakers discussed various elements of this debate, including:
- The ecology of the seabed and gaps in our current knowledge of seabed mining's environmental impacts;
- Recent calls for a moratorium from grassroots organizations, NGOs, and corporations;
- Current governance issues related to the International Seabed Authority, including the two-year rule and the viability of a moratorium;
- The possibility of addressing the climate crisis without mining the deep seabed; and
- Perspectives and activities from the U.S. Department of State.
The report of the conference is being prepared and will be posted here.
Speakers
Lisa Levin
Pradeep Singh
Payal Sampat
Gregory O'Brien
Program
10:00 am – 10:05 am
Welcome and Opening Remarks
Robert Day
Executive Director
Renewable Natural Resources Foundation
Stephen Yaeger (Moderator)
Program Manager
Renewable Natural Resources Foundation
10:05 am – 10:45 am
The Ecology of Deep Seabed Mineral Mining
As scientific understanding of ecology in the deep ocean has improved, it has become increasingly clear that deep seabed mineral mining would have serious impacts on ocean ecosystems. Moreover, current understanding of these ecosystems still has significant gaps that will require further research to understand completely. In this section, Lisa Levin will explain the state of the science regarding the ecosystems that would be impacted by seabed mining, including the gaps in current knowledge which limit our ability to fully evaluate mining risks.
(click to view PowerPoint slides)
Lisa Levin
Distinguished Professor of Biological Oceanography
Scripps Institution for Oceanography, University of California, San Diego
San Diego, California
Lisa A. Levin is a Distinguished Professor of Biological Oceanography at the Scripps Institution of Oceanography, University of California, San Diego. She is co-founder and co-lead of the Deep-Ocean Stewardship Initiative, which seeks to integrate science, technology, policy, law and economics to advise on ecosystem-based management of resource use in the deep ocean and strategies to maintain the integrity of deep-ocean ecosystems within and beyond national jurisdictions. She also helped establish and co-leads the Deep Ocean Observing Strategy, a program within the GOOS. She is active in bringing science to deep-sea policy and contributes to global assessments (IPCC, WOA, IPBES). Dr. Levin served for 6 years as Director of the Center for Marine Biodiversity and Conservation at Scripps. Her current research interests include biodiversity of continental margin ecosystems, the effects of climate change (especially ocean deoxygenation) and human impacts on the deep ocean, with work in the Pacific, Indian and Atlantic Oceans. She is a Fellow of the American Geophysical Union and the Association of AAAS and has given the Anton Brun (IOC), Sverdrup (AGU) and Revelle (National Academy) medal lectures. She was awarded the ASLO Redfield Lifetime Achievement Award in 2018 and the Prince Albert I Grand Medal in Ocean Science in 2019.
10:45 am – 11:00 am
Q&A
11:00 am – 11:40 am
The International Seabed Authority and Current Issues in the Governance of Seabed Mining
The International Seabed Authority (ISA) is the intergovernmental body tasked with regulating and organizing all mining activity in international waters. One of its core responsibilities is to craft the regulations for the exploitation of seabed minerals. The country of Nauru recently invoked the ISA’s “two-year rule,” which will allow it to apply for an exploitation permit in the summer of 2023. This effectively puts a deadline on the completion of the mining rulebook. Proponents of this action argue that allowing seabed mining to commence as quickly as possible is necessary to facilitate the global transition to clean energy. Pradeep Singh will discuss the implementation of the two-year rule and the reasoning for it, as well as updates from December’s ISA session in Kingston, Jamaica. He will then discuss potential paths forward, including the viability of a moratorium, the implementation of the two-year rule, and the completion of the mining code.
(click to view PowerPoint slides)
Pradeep Singh
Research Associate
Institute for Advanced Sustainability Studies
Potsdam, Germany
Pradeep Singh is a doctoral researcher at the University of Bremen and an independent legal consultant. He holds an LL.M degree from Harvard Law School, an LL.M. degree in Global Environment and Climate Change Law from the University of Edinburgh as a British Chevening scholar, and an LL.B. degree with first-class honours from the University of Malaya in his home country, Malaysia. Pradeep has published extensively on the topics within his expertise, which range from public international law, global environmental law and climate law, the law of the sea and ocean governance. He regularly attends and participates in meetings and events of the International Seabed Authority as an observer delegate for the Institute for Advanced Sustainability Studies. In his capacity as an independent consultant, Pradeep provides legal advice to several delegates and parties to international negotiations on technical matters pertaining to deep seabed mining as well as on the conservation and sustainable use of marine biodiversity in areas beyond national jurisdiction. Since November 2021, he is Deputy Chair for the Ocean Law specialist group at the IUCN's World Commission on Environmental Law.
11:40 am – 11:55 am
Q&A
11:55 am – 12:35 pm
The Mineral Needs of the Clean Energy Transition: Do We Need to Mine the Seabed?
Proponents of deep seabed mineral mining often argue that it is necessary to satisfy the mineral requirements of the clean energy transition. However, there is considerable uncertainty surrounding these mineral needs and whether recycling and terrestrial mining alone will have the capacity to satisfy them. Payal Sampat will discuss these uncertainties, as well as efforts to promote recycling, make terrestrial mining more sustainable and humane, and reduce the mineral requirements of the transition to a more sustainable economy.
(click to view PowerPoint slides)
Payal Sampat
Mining Program Director
Earthworks
San Francisco, California
Payal Sampat is Mining Program Director at Earthworks, a nonprofit organization dedicated to protecting communities and the environment from the adverse impacts of mineral and energy development while promoting sustainable solutions. She leads Earthworks’ efforts to reform mining practices through corporate and markets campaigns, policy reforms, and solidarity with frontline communities. She is the author of several publications on mining and a sustainable materials economy and is an NGO sector representative to the multi-sector Initiative for Responsible Mining Assurance.
She holds a BA in English from St Xavier’s College, Bombay University and a Master’s in International Environmental Policy and Planning from Tufts University.
12:35 pm – 12:50 pm
Q&A
12:50 pm – 1:30 pm
U.S. State Department's Current Perspectives and Activities on DSMM
Gregory O'Brien
Foreign Affairs Officer
Office of Ocean and Polar Affairs
U.S. Department of State
Washington, DC
1:30 pm – 1:45 pm
Q&A
1:45 pm – 1:55 pm
Closing Remarks
Robert Day
Executive Director
Renewable Natural Resources Foundation
Conference Program Committee
Chair:
Andy Miller, RNRF Chairman; Policy Fellow, AMS Policy Program, American Meteorological Society
Members:
Robert Day, RNRF Executive Director
Dresden Farrand, RNRF Vice Chairman; Executive Vice President, American Water Resources Association
Lu Gay Lanier, RNRF Board Member; American Society of Landscape Architects Fund
Raj Pandya, RNRF Board Member; Director, Thriving Earth Exchange, American Geophysical Union
Howard Rosen, RNRF Board Member; Public Interest Member
Tamar Schlekat, RNRF Board Member; Executive Director, Society of Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry
Danielle Schroeder, RNRF Board Member; American Society of Civil Engineers; Associate Engineer, Pennoni
Barry Starke, RNRF Board Member; Public Interest Member
Kasey White, RNRF Board Member; Director of Geoscience Policy, Geological Society of America
RNRF Staff Liaison:
Stephen Yaeger, Program Manager