The ocean comprises 70% of the planet and has a profound impact on all life on Earth. It regulates the global climate, produces most of the oxygen we breathe, absorbs carbon dioxide, and supports a vast network of life that sustains ecosystems and our planet’s life support. It also acts as the largest ‘carbon sink’, a vital buffer against climate change.
But a threat is coming. Deep-sea mining risks destroying fragile marine ecosystems, precious habitats, and undiscovered species.
Deep-sea mining involves the extraction of minerals from the ocean floor at depths. It poses a severe threat because it has the potential to destroy fragile ecosystems, release stored carbon, and lead to new forms of ecological and geopolitical exploitation. It has been hailed as a way to supply minerals necessary for the global transition to clean energy, offering an alternative that is less harmful and economically beneficial to developing countries.
But it comes at a cost
Research shows that mining activities could permanently harm marine ecosystems because they disrupt fragile, poorly understood deep-sea ecosystems. Mining disturbs the seabed environment, endangering marine biodiversity and generating toxic waste that pollutes the ocean. In this process, mineral-rich nodules, approximately the size of potatoes, are collected from vast regions of the ocean floor. Minerals such as cobalt, copper, manganese, nickel, and rare earth elements are extracted from the ocean floor by dredging, hydraulic extraction, and subsea drilling. Yet, its depths remain unprotected and misunderstood.
Luckily, we still have time to stop this industry before it’s too late.
Farah Obaidullah, Founder and Director of The Ocean and Us, has dedicated over two decades to ocean advocacy, addressing issues from overfishing to pollution and leading the charge against deep-sea mining. Through her work and comprehensive book, The Ocean and Us, she seeks to bridge the gap in ocean literacy, illuminating the profound connections between humanity and the sea while urging global action to protect our shared heritage. Obaidullah said her inspiration for ocean advocacy stems from recognizing the ocean’s vast importance.
Her connection to the sea began as a child, growing up near the coast and being amazed by its ferocity, its mystery, and the awesomeness it offered. That early fascination sparked a curiosity that stayed with her throughout her childhood, studies and into her professional life.
“For the past 21-plus years, I’ve been working in ocean advocacy and campaigning, dealing with a whole range of ocean issues, from pollution to climate change, to illegal and industrial fishing, to labor abuse, which is a major problem… making it easy for both nature and people to be exploited,” she said.
Deep-sea ecosystems remain largely untouched by human activity.
“Everything that happens at sea is largely out of sight and out of mind,” said Obaidullah. “Therefore, it’s a huge opportunity for those who wish to exploit not just ocean animals and wildlife such as fish and other creatures, but also people.”
In recent years, she has focused on campaigning against deep-sea mining to prevent it from beginning.
“It’s often underrepresented in discussions about the environment. Only recently has it been recognized even by the COP – the Conference of the Parties on climate change. But the importance of the ocean with respect to the health of our planet cannot be overstated.”
Obaidullah shared that she feels personally connected to the ocean, describing it as a borderless space that resonates with her identity as a biracial. For her, the high seas – those beyond national jurisdictions – represent a shared global commons that everyone has a responsibility to protect.
She said that climate change is one of the most pressing threats to the ocean, followed closely by overfishing and pollution, which diminish the ocean’s biomass and its capacity to act as the world’s largest carbon sink. These issues, she said, are altering the ocean’s biodiversity and weakening its ability to act as a vital carbon sink.
Obaidullah warned that deep-sea mining is one of the most urgent and overlooked dangers.
“It hasn’t begun yet, but if allowed to go ahead, it will not only cause enormous ecological damage, but it will trigger a new era of colonialism. We’re talking about the international ocean – the deep sea – which belongs to all of us, not any one nation. Allowing a handful of countries to stake their claim would launch a new gold rush, where again, it will be rich nations who colonize this vast shared space,” said Obaidullah.
Deadlocked on ‘Mining Code’
The International Seabed Authority (ISA) Council reconvened in Kingston, Jamaica, for the second part of its 30th Session, with the ambitious goal to negotiate a historic Mining Code – a set of global rules, regulations, and procedures for the exploration and exploitation of mineral resources on the international seabed beyond national jurisdiction. The Mining Code, mandated by the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) and its 1994 Implementation Agreement, aims to balance the economic interests of states and commercial entities with the imperative of protecting the marine environment.
Despite intensive negotiations, the Council did not reach a final agreement on the Mining Code, and no deep-sea mining licenses were approved. The process has been marked by sharp divisions: some states push for rapid adoption to enable mining, while others, including numerous NGOs and scientific experts, argue for a moratorium or stricter environmental protections.
“The good news is that deep-sea mining hasn’t been given the green light – it hasn’t happened yet,” said Obaidullah. “There was a real threat a few years ago that deep-sea mining would be approved by 2025.”
She recalled how, in 2021, when the Pacific island nation of Nauru, through its sponsored entity Nauru Ocean Resources Inc. (NORI), a subsidiary of The Metals Company, invoked the two-year rule under the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea. The rule meant that by July 2023, the company could potentially start mining even in the absence of formal global regulations.
This action set a deadline of July 2023 for the International Seabed Authority (ISA) to finalize mining regulations or allow mining to proceed under existing rules. However, in 2023, the ISA Council deemed the issue too controversial and unprepared for global implementation, postponing the decision to 2025.
“There was a real threat hanging over this year’s ISA meeting that deep-sea mining could be approved, but thankfully, that didn’t happen,” she said.
Obaidullah said deep-sea mining has not yet been approved, despite early fears, largely because the mining code, the framework of rules and procedures needed to regulate such activities, is still incomplete. No green light has been given. Even though the two-year rule was triggered four years ago, countries are still not prepared to move forward,” she said.
But the threat remains.
Despite the two-year rule being triggered by Nauru in 2021, she said that the ISA Council is not ready to approve mining activities, which she views as encouraging. However, she warned that the threat persists, particularly from The Metals Company, which is aggressively pushing to start mining and has formed an alliance with the United States, potentially bypassing the ISA.
“That’s a real threat, not just to the ocean, but to multilateralism and to the international rules-based order,” she said. “Fortunately, other member states of the ISA are standing firm. They’re showing unity and saying we cannot allow one country to go rogue and sidestep the rules.”
Obaidullah said that despite recent setbacks for deep-sea mining advocates, the threat has not gone away and continues to be a serious concern. She said that while some positive developments emerged from the recent International Seabed Authority (ISA) meeting, there were also several disappointing outcomes.
“For the past few years, many states have pushed to develop a general environmental policy that would provide environmental guidance for all International Seabed Authority (ISA) activities, including exploitation and exploration. But no agreement was reached,” she said.
“This is hugely disappointing because the ISA has a dual mandate: one is to regulate mining activities, but the second is to protect the marine environment for the benefit of all humankind and to safeguard it from serious harm. You can’t fulfill that second mandate without a robust environmental policy.”
She said that the failure of the ISA to initiate a formal review of its structure and operations, as required by its own foundational rules under the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS), is a concern. She said most states want to see this review happen, but a few countries are blocking both the environmental policy and the review.
Why a Moratorium on Deep-Sea Mining is More Critical Than Ever
Obaidullah said that if deep-sea mining goes ahead, it will occur four to six kilometers below the ocean surface, in a zone that’s practically impossible to monitor, regulate, or enforce.
“I know from my background in fisheries just how hard it is to hold companies accountable even for surface-level activities in the high seas. We already lack the political will to enforce laws where crimes are documented. Now imagine doing that at those depths, who is going to foot the bill to monitor mining operations kilometers under the sea?”
“But beyond the regulatory nightmare,” she said, “deep-sea mining poses an existential threat to ancient ecosystems. We’re talking about polymetallic nodules that take millions of years to form. They provide vital habitat for deep-ocean species. Destroying them would be irreversible, and for what? For minerals, we haven’t even proven we need in this way.”
She said that deep-sea mining threatens ancient ecosystems, particularly the nodules that take millions of years to form and serve as essential habitats for deep-sea wildlife
“Some of the species in the deep ocean are incredibly ancient,” said Obaidullah. “Fish can live for several hundred years. Corals can reach several thousand years old. And sponges? Some are as old as 11,000 years. These are ecosystems that do not regenerate on human time scales. Once they’re gone, they’re gone forever,”
She said that our understanding of the deep-sea remains limited. Scientists estimate that millions of species may yet be discovered, many of which could reveal critical insights into how the deep-sea sustains life on Earth. She said the ocean regulates the climate, provides oxygen, and provides food.
Given that the ocean covers 70% of the planet, which is predominantly deep-sea, she said that initiating deep-sea mining would trigger a destructive “gold rush” with irreversible consequences for ecosystems and humanity’s future. “That cannot be overstated enough,” said Obaidullah.
“The science is very clear. Deep-sea mining will have an irreversible impact on ecosystems in the deep-sea, on life in the deep-sea. We have yet to understand what the consequences will be too disturbing locked away carbon,” said Obaidullah.
She reminded that the ocean is the planet’s largest carbon sink, and that disrupting seabed layers could release stored carbon back into the water column, potentially undermining global climate stability.
“This isn’t something we can start and later say, ‘Oops, we made a mistake.’ That would be dangerously short-sighted,” she said. “It’s driven by a handful of profit-seeking companies that want to exploit the deep sea, not for the benefit of humankind, which is the actual mandate of the International Seabed Authority, but for their own gain.”
She said that, so far, those principles have not been reflected in negotiations and decision-making, which continue to sideline both environmental protection and global public interest.
Reforms
Obaidullah said the most responsible course of action is to institute a moratorium on deep-sea mining, given geopolitical instability and global environmental crises. Given what is at stake, she said, we cannot afford to introduce a new form of ecocide.
“Deep-sea mining fits the legal definition of ecocide,” she said.
Ecocide is a term currently being considered by the International Criminal Court as a potential fifth crime under the Rome Statute. She said that deep-sea mining meets the legal threshold for ecocide because it involves knowingly causing long-term, irreversible harm to ecosystems, even before operations begin.
Obaidullah argued that because the ecological damage from deep-sea mining is both predictable and irreversible, it qualifies as ecocide and therefore must be stopped before it begins. She called for a fundamental shift in how the International Seabed Authority (ISA operates, urging it to evolve into a true steward of the ocean’s common heritage.
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“We need to invest in science to better understand the deep sea and its role in sustaining life on Earth. Let’s keep it a sanctuary, for peace, for collaboration. We’ve done this before with Antarctica through the Antarctic Treaty. We should show the world we can do it again.”
“These are our global commons,” she said. “And it will be very difficult, if not impossible, to start commercial activities there and expect to do it fairly across all countries. Right now, it’s just a handful of companies, mostly from the Global North, with the capacity to exploit the deep sea. There’s no way to ensure equity or sustainability under current conditions.”
“That’s why we need a moratorium. Not just to pause, but to deeply reflect, do we really need to destroy the deep sea? What more could we learn from it that benefits all humankind, new medicines, new scientific understanding, or even a deeper grasp of how life functions on this planet?”
She compared the needed reform to what happened with the International Whaling Commission (IWC). The IWC reformed itself from a body that regulated commercial mining to a body that put in place a moratorium on commercial whaling because they evolved to recognize that whales cannot be exploited sustainably. Similarly, the ISA should recognize that deep-sea modules that have taken millions of years to form cannot be exploited sustainably or equitably.
Ocean and Us book
Obaidullah said that ocean literacy remains largely absent from most school curricula. While students are taught about geography, geology, agriculture, and atmospheric sciences, the ocean, the dominant part of the planet, remains largely overlooked. She attributed this gap to the fact that humans, as land-based creatures, tend to see the world from a terrestrial perspective.
“Ocean literacy is absolutely crucial to our broader understanding of the planet,” she said. “That’s why I created The Ocean and Us in response to the many requests I was getting from people who wanted to learn about the ocean but weren’t marine scientists and didn’t know where to start. And while the internet is full of information, it can be overwhelming or inaccessible to many.”
Obaidullah said she was inspired to create The Ocean and Us because many people asked her where they could learn more about the ocean, without being marine scientists. Rather than sending them to dozens of separate sources, she decided to create a single, accessible resource that anyone with basic literacy could understand.
The book, she said, brings together diverse aspects of ocean science and policy, offering a holistic view of how human life is connected to marine ecosystems. It features 32 chapters covering the blue economy, the relationship between the carbon cycle and fish, marine animal welfare, oil spills, the deep sea, and noise pollution.
Obaidullah said the goal was to go beyond surface-level media coverage, like the focus on plastic pollution, but to provide readers with a deeper, more comprehensive understanding of the ocean’s role in sustaining life on Earth.
