Seabed mining needs integrity, not haste.

Abstract

The recent push by the United States to mine the international seabed for critical minerals, such as manganese and cobalt, has been met with widespread calls to quickly enact international regulations for deep seabed mining. Indeed, criticism of the pace at which the International Seabed Authority (ISA) is developing mining regulations has intensified. However, scientists have been calling for more time to better understand the risks of deep seabed mining, as current knowledge gaps render robust environmental management untenable. Casting the situation as a race creates a false sense of urgency that distracts from the higher goal of getting the regulations right.