At international deep sea mining meeting, debate moves behind closed doors

Delegates to the UN-affiliated organization that regulates seabed mining cut a livestream of their negotiations Wednesday and retreated behind closed doors in an attempt to resolve a dilemma the could determine the fate of the deep ocean.

The International Seabed Authority missed a deadline on July 9 to enact regulations to allow the mining of deep sea ecosystems for valuable metals used in electric car batteries. That means the Authority must accept license applications from mining companies. But the question of whether it must act— and how—on any submissions in the absence of environmental safeguards has stymied the Council, the Authority’s 36-member policymaking body that has been meeting at the ISA’s Kingston, Jamaica, headquarters for the past two weeks.