Abstract abyss under sea background. coral reef underwater with sun ray. 3D rendering image. Photo: Copyright: isampuntarat
The United Kingdom is the latest country calling for a moratorium on deep sea mining, making it the 23rd nation wanting a precautionary pause.
The call came just before the International Seabed Authority or ISA meeting in Kingston Jamaica, for the third part of its 28th session, that started last Monday.
Other countries like New Zealand and France have also called for a deep-sea mining moratorium before it starts.
"Some countries have already indicated they will oppose a general policy for the environment" - Deep-Sea Conservation lawyer Duncan Currie
However, the Pacific is divided with the Cook Islands and Nauru wanting it to go ahead and Fiji, Palau and Samoa being some of the nation's calling for a pause.
Last week, Cook Islands Prime Minister Mark Brown told RNZ Pacific that Cook Islands will continue its seabed "exploration phase", despite facing criticism from campaign groups.
The current meeting is a continuation of what was discussed in July, where member states agreed on a non-binding timeline for mining rules to be adopted in 2025.
Deep-Sea Conservation Coalition international lawyer Duncan Currie said there were "opposite currents" within the ISA with the growing list of countries calling for a moratorium.
"There is a crosscurrent going on," Currie said.
Duncan Currie Photo: RNZ Pacific/Lydia Lewis
"You have 23 countries including Aotearoa New Zealand and now the United Kingdom and other significant countries, such as Canada, Switzerland, that are now saying we want a moratorium.
"That directly cuts across the regulations, because of course, the regulations will allow seabed mining to start."
Currie said although it is a strange situation, a similar thing happened in the late 1980s when the Convention on the Regulation of Antarctic Mineral Resource Activities was negotiated.
"That was actually finished as a template for mining in Antarctica and then after that, a number of countries said 'no, we don't want mining in Antarctica, we want a moratorium', so they agreed on a 50-year moratorium.
"The law is different, but the international political dynamic is the same.
"I think the majority of public opinion gets their way then we'll get a moratorium, but a number of other countries feel differently."
A big discussion point during the July meeting was the two-year rule - a provision under the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) that once triggered means if regulations are not adopted within two years, mining licenses could be granted under whatever rules exist.
Nauru triggered the rule in 2021 that lapsed on 9 July of this year.
It means The Metals Company can apply to mine under its subsidiary Nauru Ocean Resources and the ISA would have to consider the application.
"Nauru is expected to file this application to go seabed mining after the July meeting in 2024," Currie said.
"There's a lot of countries that do not want to see unregulated seabed mining happen.
"This is a very contentious, very legalistic and very politically contentious area, so that will really come to pass in July of next year."
Currie believes there will be a lot of "legal and political wrangling" around the two-year rule between now and June next year.