At the International Seabed Authority, discussions under pressure but still without a mining code

An image released by the National Oceanography Centre on July 24, 2023, shows a carnivorous sponge, "Axoniderma mexicana," photographed in the deep Northeast Pacific on an ocean floor currently being explored for possible exploitation of polymetallic nodules. NATIONAL OCEANOGRAPHY CENTRE/NERC/AFP

Paragraph after paragraph, word after word. For more than ten years, the International Seabed Authority has been preparing the mining code that will govern the exploitation of "the Area," that is, the seabed and ocean floor and its subsoil located in international waters, which belong to no one. Two years ago, the body set itself the goal of finalizing this mining code by 2025. Since then, the industry's desire for minerals from the ocean floor, and in particular for polymetallic nodules, precious pebbles containing rare metals that can be used, for example, to manufacture batteries, has grown.

The IAFM Council—which brings together 36 of the 169 member states—is, however, wrapping up its second annual meeting in Kingston, Jamaica, without finalizing the regulations. Suspended on the evening of July 18, the two-week discussions are expected to conclude on Monday. Negotiations are still stumbling on many points, particularly environmental aspects. However, the negotiations have made "significant progress," Leticia Carvalho, the IAFM's secretary general, wrote in response to questions from Le Monde . The goal now is to "finalize a comprehensive, rigorous, and science-based regulatory framework that is legally sound, environmentally protective, and economically viable ."

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