Deep-sea mining company, The Metals Company, may have violated exploration contracts, according to evidence compiled and submitted by Greenpeace to the International Seabed Authority (ISA).

The 31st meeting of the ISA began today in Kingston, Jamaica. The international body is in charge of organising, regulating and controlling all mineral-resource-related activities in the deep-seabed beyond national jurisdiction. 

Its mission is built on the principle that the deep-sea area and its resources are the “common heritage of humankind,” meaning they cannot be claimed by any single nation and must be managed for the benefit of all.

Greenpeace International has compiled and submitted evidence to the ISA Secretary-General, Leticia Carvalho, to support the ongoing inquiry into deep-sea mining contractors. 

The environmental campaign group reported that they found evidence that ISA contractors, Nauru Ocean Resources Inc. (NORI) and Tonga Offshore Mining Ltd. (TOML) – subsidiaries of The Metals Company – have operated in bad faith.

They also allege that the companies, managed as an integrated corporate group, used their business partnerships with Pacific Island States Nauru and Tonga to secure access to seabed areas specifically reserved under international law for developing countries.

The companies also allegedly applied to mine these very same areas via US-authorised deep-sea mining by The Metal Company’s American subsidiary The Metal Company USA. 

This means the company has essentially benefited from ISA granted exploration rights, while also exploring deep-sea mining options – and even preparing payments – on an unlawful basis.

When the ISA held its last Council meeting in July 2025, they launched an enquiry into The Metals Company seeking a unilateral deep-sea mining license from the Trump administration.

If the US administration unilaterally allowed mining the international seabed, it would circumvent the regulations upheld by the UN Convention of the Law of the Sea, which could be a violation of international law.  

Greenpeace are now calling on ISA to formulate a strong response to The Mining Companies’ path and show that: “International law requires that states show that violations of treaties and contractual commitments have consequences.”

Earlier this month, an independent report commissioned by Greenpeace International found that developing countries will feel the force of the environmental damage caused by deep-sea mining, while receiving next-to-no economic benefit. 

The analysis showed that the international mining companies – largely headquartered in the Global North – will receive the majority of the profits. 

So far, 40 governments – including France, Canada, the UK, Brazil, and various Pacific Island nations – have called for a moratorium on deep-sea mining. More than 950 scientists, and international businesses including Google, Apple, Samsung, BMW, Volvo and Renault are also calling for a pause.

Carvalho has recently publicly advocated for governments to finalise a streamlined deep-sea mining code this year. This would in effect create a legal framework for commercial mining to begin. 

In light of the environmental damage, unequal economic benefits, and their recent legal submission, Greenpeace are pushing back against the establishment of such a code.

Louisa Carson, Campaigner for Greenpeace International said: “It would legitimise and drive investments into a flagging industry, supporting rogue actor companies like The Metals Company, and weakening deterrence against unilateral mining outside the US framework.”

“What is needed is a clear political signal that the world will not be intimidated into rushing a mining code by unilateral threats and will instead keep moving towards a moratorium on deep-sea mining,” she added.

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