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To build batteries, mobile phones where turbines of wind turbines, a handful of industrialists is ready to explore the major seabed.
“NIt would be completely crazy to say that we are going to go drill and use a place that we do not know. ” Guest Tuesday June 10 on the set of France 2, Emmanuel Macron condemned the decision of his American counterpart, Donald Trump, to authorize by decree the extraction of large -scale ores in the seabed, several hundred, even thousands of meters in depth. Manganese, iron, copper, nickel, cobalt, lithium, rare metals … on the ocean floor, these precious resources coexist with biodiversity still largely unknown to scientists, recalled the French president from Nice (Alpes-Maritimes), where a Sixty heads of state and governments met during the 3rd UN conference on the ocean (UNOC-3).
Big absent from these discussions on the protection of the seas, Donald Trump, with his decision “Unilateral” In favor of underwater mines, has boiled many leaders: “Great seabed cannot become a West West “, warned the secretary general of the UN, Antonio Guterres. But does the international community have the means to slow down the ardors of the Cowboys states and thus protect the great funds from a “gold” rush which, according to scientists, would have devastating consequences?
It all starts at UNOC-2, in 2022 in Lisbon (Portugal), when a handful of small island countries in the Pacific are ranked behind a common position: prohibiting any exploitation of major seabed, at least time to deepen scientific knowledge in these dark areas. “We only know 2% of the bottom of the oceans”recalled the president of the scientific council of the Sea Foundation, Pascale Joannot. Three years after the launch of this moratorium project, 37 states have supported it on behalf of the precautionary principle. Four did it at the summit in Nice. “Donald Trump’s announcement in April gave everyone a little fear”concedes Emma Wilson, of the Deep Sea Conservation Coalition, which brings together 150 NGOs and supports this project. “But nothing has been done yet and, above all, the momentum for the moratorium has not suffered, on the contrary. The number of states that adheres continues to grow. “
Because if a state can technically authorize a company to embark on the exploitation of large funds in its territorial waters, the White House, it supports the initiative of the mining company The Metal Company, which is eyeing the underwater flaw of Clarion-Clipperton. Far, far away, from the American coasts, in the middle of the Pacific. Here, only the International Marine Funds Authority (AIFM), a UN agency which has 169 member countries, has the power to grant or not an operating permit. “There is a procedure and nWe like to think that we live in a world governed by rules“, Tuesday noticed the president of the Palaos archipelago on Tuesday, Surrangel Whipps Jr.
“It should not belong to a single country to unilaterally decide on the use we make of the seabed which belong to all of humanity.”
SURANTL WHIPPS JR., President of the Palaosat the UN summit on the ocean in Nice
However, the time of the UN and these institutions is not that of companies. In charge of floor on a mining code for the great funds, the AIFM has become the scene of an showdown between the states which claim time to write these new rules and those which, seduced by the promises of financial benefits, campaign for “drill, baby, drill “ (“Perceux, baby, forest”, To take over one of Donald Trump’s slogans). Approaching new negotiations, which will be held in July in Kingston (Jamaica), the camp favorable to the moratorium, always a minority, took advantage of the corridors of UNOC to sharpen its strategy, deciphers Julien Rochette, director of the Ocean program of IDDRI, a circle of reflection on sustainable development and international relations. “THEY wish to short-circuit AIFM’s discussions on the mining code and have a policy adopted in parallel general that sets up a precaution break “he enlightens.
In other words, “Make this political position for the moratorium give birth to a legal instrument”, continue Pradeep Singh, specialist in the governance of seabed within the Oceano Azul Foundation. Leaving “Also discuss countermeasures possible in the event that a vowel state decides on unilateral actions “continues the lawyer. At the gallery, Lula, the Brazilian president, called for “Clear acts” AIFM to end this “Predatory race” to underwater metals.
Mining code? Moratorium? Or both? While waiting for the international community to have such instruments, Pradeep Singh tempers: “The mining of the great funds will not start right away“. And apart from a few companies likely to get started, like the one dubbed by Donald Trump, many doubt that the extractivist adventure in the abyss is quickly profitable.
“Some countries refuse to close the door to what they see as an economic opportunity, but things are gradually changing. Especially since independent studies show that this industry should not generate so much money.”
Emma Wilson, expert at the Deep Sea Conservation Coalitionin franceinfo
Pour Pradeep Singh, it is not the right that could slow down the appetites of Donald Trump, but “The market” :: “Who wants to lose money by embarking on costly missions in a hostile, uncertain, technically difficult and harmful environment for the environment, when the minerals sought are available on firm land, at least in the medium term?”
“Beyond the states that have positioned themselves for a moratorium, banks, such as BNP Paribas or Crédit Agricole, have announced that they would not finance the exploitation of mineral resources in large ocean funds”, Records Julien Rochette. Tech companies, including Apple and Google, and car manufacturers, such as Renault, Volvo and BMW, assured that they would not use this type of resources. “When these actors say that they will not buy these ores, that makes a hell of a difference,” notes Emma Wilson. Sufficient to avoid Donald Trump to touch the bottom?
