How the submarine mines wanted by Trump work (which for the UN threaten the rights of humanity)

He signed him away from the cameras and went largely unnoticed, but theexecutive order issued last Thursday by the American president Donald Trump is destined to have profound consequences. Not only because it concerns the abysses of the sea, but also for environmental and diplomatic repercussions. Trump in fact ordered to accelerate the Extraction permits from the seabed seabed around the coasts of the United States and to speed up the revision of those « in areas outside the national jurisdiction » for relaunch the submarine extractive activity of nickel, copper and other critical minerals, both in national and international waters. That is, he started the race to underwater mines of rare minerals. But the «Deep Mining»Hides many pitfalls.

Interests

China, As BBC News reportshas already said that the order of Trump « International law violates and damages the general interests of the international community ». Meanwhile, environmental associations launch the alarm on the risks for the seas ecosystem And they accuse the Trump administration of ignoring the efforts of international diplomacy to regulate submarine draws.
Trump and his government are convinced that submarine mines can give the United States independence (or at least a lower dependence) from China on minerals and essential materials for a series of technologies. Last more valuable resources since China, as a retaliation for the war of American duties, has limited exports of different types of minerals. As the Reuters Agency explainsit is estimated that in some areas of the Pacific Ocean there are large quantities of Polimetallic nodulespotato -shaped rocks that took millions of years to form and are full of manganese, nickel, copper and others Minerals used for electronics, military industry and electrical batteries. According to the US government, which in its press releases He defines the executive order of Trump « historical » and promises that he will open a « new golden age », submarine draws could increase the US GDP by 300 billion dollars in 10 years and create 100 thousand jobs.

The common heritage of humanity

The International Marine School Authority of the UN (International Seabed Authority, Isa) has severely criticized Trump’s executive orderremembering that according to the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS), « all the rights on the mining resources of the seabed beyond the national jurisdictions of the coastal countries belong to humanity (or society) as a wholeby virtue of their legal nature as a common heritage of humanity « and that therefore » appropriation and alienation by any state or natural or legal person are prohibited « . But the protests of the ISA are weakened by the fact that The United States do not recognize the treaty that led to its institution. Furthermore, the international authority for the seabed, created in the 90s, So far it has not been able to issue its rules for mining extraction in international waters Due to the unresolved disagreements between the states on acceptable levels of debris, noise and other factors produced by this activity (which at the moment remains only experimental).

Extraction

However, each country can authorize Extraction in deep waters in its territorial waters, approximately up to 200 nautical miles from the coastand companies are already queuing to dig into US waters. As Reuters reports, at the beginning of the month the Californian company Impossible Metals has moved to gain access to nickel, cobalt and other mineral deposits off the coast of the coasts American samoa. While the Canadian Metals Company is working to start « the first commercial project of nodules in the world » which aims to extract nodules from Pacific ocean seabed between Hawaii and Mexicoin an underwater plain known as Clarion-Clipperon area. Other submarine mineral companies are the Russian Jsc Yuzhmorgeologiya, the Blue Minerals Jamaica, the China Minmetals and the Marawa Research and Exploration of Kiribati (a Pacific Island-State).

Environmental groups

Environmental groups have always been opposed to the underwater minesconvinced that industrial operations on the bottom of the ocean can cause irreversible damage to the marine ecosystem. « The United States government does not have the right to unilaterally allow an industry to destroy the common heritage of humanity and to destroy the sea depths for the profit of a few companies, » said Arlo Hemphill of Greenpeace. «Scientists agree that Extraction in deep waters is a deeply dangerous company for our ocean and for all of us who depend on it», He said at the AP Jeff Watters of Ocean Conservancy. « The damage caused by extraction in deep waters are not limited to the bottom of the ocean: they will have an impact on the entire water column, from top to bottom, and on all those who depend on it ». Watters also warned that the United States move « opens the door to other countries to do the same ».
The extraction of the submarine polymented nodules takes place or by dragge of the seabed or by suction. The nodules thus taken are brought to the surface, kilometers away from the seabed, and collected by the mining ships, while the debris considered useless are re -rabed at sea. According to scientists and environmentalists, this can cause irreversible damage to the marine ecosystem.

The abysmal plains

«On the nodules live microbial organisms, invertebrates, corals and sponges, while starfish, crustaceans, worms and other forms of life move around them. About half of the life known in the vast flat expanses of the seabed, called abysmal plains, lives on these nodules » explains the New York Times. «Both the dredging and the aspiration would disturb considerably, if they do not destroy, the very habitat of the seabed. (…). The main concern are The sediments that the mining extraction would create, both on the bottom of the sea and about a thousand meters deepwhere there are « some of the clearest ocean waters », said Jeffrey Drazen, oceanographer of the University of Hawaii by hand « writes the American newspaper. These underwater clouds of sediments can in fact suffocate fish, crustaceans and other abysmal creatures and prevent the passage of the little light that arrives on the deep seabed. There is also the risk of release and spread of metals that can enter the fish food chain and, ultimately, even human. According to criticsthe submarine mines would also end up making electric vehicles less sustainable.
With one more aggravating circumstance: if each industry involves the risks of pollution, The submarine mines are more difficult if not impossible to control. Especially at a time when Trump in addition to accelerating the draws, he is also working on the controls and environmental regulations of all kinds Thanks to the powers of the dogethe department for government efficiency inspired by Elon Musk.