New negotiations on the controversial exploitation of the seabed

The International Seabed Authority (AIFM) began a new round of negotiations on Thursday aimed at defining the rules for potential mining of the ocean floor, a prospect that ocean defenders would like to see buried.

"

", declared the secretary general of the IAMF Michael Lodge at the opening in Kingston (Jamaica) of the session of more than two weeks of the Organization Council, which will be followed by others by the end of 2023.

Unfamiliar environment

Under the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea, the Jamaica-based Authority and its 167 member states control the ocean floor outside the States' territorial waters and the resources it contains, a "common

" which does not belong to anyone.

For the moment, the contracts awarded to some thirty research centers and companies only concern the exploration of delimited areas.

The exploitation of the coveted minerals is not supposed to begin before the adoption of a mining code that has been under discussion for almost ten years.

But Nauru, a small island state in the Pacific, threw a stone into the pond by triggering a clause in June 2021 allowing the adoption of these rules within two years.

At the end of this period in a few months, the government will be able to request an exploitation contract for Nori (Nauru Ocean Resources), a subsidiary of the Canadian The Metals Company which it sponsors.

And this despite the historic agreement reached less than two weeks ago at the UN on a treaty to protect the high seas and the seabed outside national jurisdiction.

Read alsoThe ravages of bottom fishing on marine species

With the "

" that are the international agreement concluded in December to protect 30% of the planet by 2030 and the future treaty on the high seas, "the

,” said Michael Lodge.

But while some want to ensure that the future mining code is solid enough not to disturb this still very little known deep environment too much, others believe that the lack of knowledge of these ecosystems and the impacts of extraction require a moratorium. , supported by a dozen states including France and Chile.

"

” Duncan Currie, from the NGO group Deep, said in a statement. Sea Conservation Coalition.