Trump-backed push for deep-sea mining 'unlawful': ISA chief

The Secretary-General of the International Seabed Authority (ISA), Leticia Carvalho, has publicly declared that the push to mine the deep seabed in internati...

What Happened

The Secretary-General of the International Seabed Authority (ISA), Leticia Carvalho, has publicly declared that the push to mine the deep seabed in international waters without ISA authorization is "unlawful activity."
Several private companies, backed by executive action in the United States, have declared their intent to begin deep-sea mining in international waters using a domestic US law from 1980, bypassing the ISA's regulatory framework.
The ISA chief warned of a "big amount of litigation" if companies proceed without authorization, as such actions would violate the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS), which designates the deep seabed as the "common heritage of mankind."
Deep-sea polymetallic nodules — rich in manganese, cobalt, and nickel — have surged in commercial interest due to demand from electric vehicles, batteries, and high-performance alloys.

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International Seabed Authority (ISA) and UNCLOS Part XI

The International Seabed Authority is an intergovernmental body established under the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS, 1982) and its 1994 Implementation Agreement. ISA is headquartered in Kingston, Jamaica, and is responsible for organizing, regulating, and controlling all mineral-related activities in "the Area" — the seabed, ocean floor, and subsoil beyond national jurisdiction.

UNCLOS Article 136 declares "the Area" to be the "common heritage of mankind" — no nation or private entity can claim sovereignty over or ownership of these resources.
UNCLOS Article 137 prohibits any state or entity from appropriating any part of "the Area" or its resources.
Only the ISA can authorize mining exploration and exploitation contracts in the Area. As of 2026, no commercial exploitation license has been issued by the ISA; only exploration contracts exist.
ISA membership: 169 member states. The United States has signed but never ratified UNCLOS, which limits its formal standing within the ISA while still being bound by customary international law on the high seas.
The principle of "common heritage of mankind" is among the few non-amendable provisions of UNCLOS (Article 311(6)).

Connection to this news: The US executive action directing fast-tracking of permits for deep-sea mining in international waters directly contradicts UNCLOS's framework and the ISA's exclusive mandate. Since the US has not ratified UNCLOS, it claims it is not bound by Part XI, but most international legal scholars and ISA member states dispute this position under customary international law.

Polymetallic Nodules: Strategic Mineral Significance

Polymetallic nodules are potato-sized mineral concretions found on the abyssal ocean floor, typically at depths of 4,000–6,000 metres, formed over millions of years through mineral precipitation. They are highly concentrated in the Clarion-Clipperton Zone (CCZ) in the eastern Pacific Ocean and the Central Indian Ocean Basin (CIOB).

Key minerals in nodules: Manganese, nickel, cobalt, copper — all classified as "critical minerals" essential for clean energy technology.
Cobalt demand: Primarily driven by lithium-ion batteries for electric vehicles and energy storage systems.
Nickel: Used in stainless steel, alloys, and increasingly in EV battery chemistry.
Estimated resources: The CCZ alone is estimated to hold 21 billion tonnes of nodules — containing more cobalt, nickel, and manganese than all known land-based reserves combined.
India holds exploration contracts for the Central Indian Ocean Basin (CIOB), with ISRO-associated body National Institute of Ocean Technology (NIOT) involved in research.

Connection to this news: The enormous mineral wealth of the deep seabed has triggered a geopolitical race. Companies aiming to bypass ISA oversight are driven by the commercial imperative to secure cobalt and nickel supplies for the global energy transition — at the cost of environmental and legal frameworks.

Environmental Concerns: Deep-Sea Ecosystem Fragility

The deep seabed is among the least-understood and most biologically fragile ecosystems on Earth. Nodule mining involves scraping the ocean floor with crawler-based collectors, creating large sediment plumes that can travel hundreds of kilometers, smothering filter-feeding organisms and disrupting chemosynthetic ecosystems around hydrothermal vents. Species around nodule fields take thousands to millions of years to develop.

Sediment disturbance experiments from the 1970s–90s (e.g., the IOM BIE experiment) show that the seabed ecosystem recovery is virtually nil even decades after disturbance.
Deep-sea ecosystems support unique biodiversity including tube worms, sea cucumbers, and microbial communities — many scientifically undiscovered.
ISA has been working on a "Mining Code" — regulations governing environmental standards for exploitation — but negotiations have stalled.
Several states (e.g., France, Germany, New Zealand, Chile) support a moratorium on deep-sea mining until adequate environmental safeguards exist.

Connection to this news: The unilateral mining push bypasses not only the ISA's legal authority but also its as-yet-incomplete environmental regulatory framework, raising the prospect of irreversible ecological damage in areas that belong to all of humanity.

Key Facts & Data

ISA established: 1994, under UNCLOS 1982 + 1994 Implementation Agreement
ISA headquarters: Kingston, Jamaica
Governing principle: "Common Heritage of Mankind" (UNCLOS Art. 136–137)
The Area: Seabed and subsoil beyond national jurisdiction (beyond EEZ/continental shelf)
US status: Signed but not ratified UNCLOS; no formal ISA membership
Contested US legal basis: Deep Seabed Hard Mineral Resources Act, 1980 (domestic US law)
Key minerals in nodules: Manganese, nickel, cobalt, copper
Clarion-Clipperton Zone (CCZ): World's largest nodule deposit, eastern Pacific
India's stake: Holds ISA exploration contracts in Central Indian Ocean Basin (CIOB)
Environmental risk: Sediment plumes, species loss, ecosystem disturbance over vast areas
ISA Secretary-General: Leticia Carvalho (Brazil)
UNCLOS parties: 169 nations; the US, Iran, and a few others are non-parties