The head of the International Seabed Authority (ISA) has issued a 15-paragraph statement chastising US President Donald Trump and his executive order to fast-track deep-sea mining in the open ocean outside of American territorial waters.

The criticism – published to the ISA’s website this week and penned by Ms Leticia Reis de Carvalho, secretary-general of the International Seabed Authority – is a head-on address of the order signed by Trump last week to “unleash America’s offshore critical minerals and resources” and the subsequent application made by The Metals Company USA to begin its mining process.

“No state has the right to unilaterally exploit the mineral resources of the area outside the legal framework established by the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea,” said Carvalho in a written statement. “It is common understanding that this prohibition is binding on all States, including those that have not ratified UNCLOS.”

That would refer, in this case, to the United States which is not a signatory of the convention established in 1982 which says that international waters and its resources are “the common heritage of humankind.” 

In her statement, Carvalho labels the US President’s executive order as ‘a surprising move’ considering the “more than 30 years the US has been a reliable observer and significant contributor to the negotiations of the International Seabed Authority, actively providing technical expertise to each stage of the development of the ISA regulatory framework.”

Washington wants to spearhead mining for mineral-rich nodules in the deepest ocean floor, circumnavigating a global effort to ensure that any such action – action which many scientists have decried as an act of damage of damaging exploration with the potential to reverberate for decades while destroying fragile marine ecosystems – is done so in a regulated manner.

In relation to the US President’s order last week, the Trump administration appears to be relying on an obscure, decades-old law that allows the federal government to issue seabed mining permits in international waters – a move that has already sparked an international outcry.

“At a time when the global community is working collectively to develop a robust regulatory framework, any unilateral action risks undermining the fundamental principles that have guided deep-sea governance for decades,” said Carvalho.

“It’s worth noting that the US Executive Order refers to Unleashing America’s Offshore Minerals and Resources. However, this can only refer to resources found on the US seabed an ocean floor because everything beyond is the common heritage of humankind.

“This means we are all stakeholders to what happens in the deep sea. It also means that any unilateral action not only threatens this carefully negotiated treaty, and decades of successful implementation and international cooperation, but also sets a dangerous precedent that could destabilise the entire system of ocean governance.”

In a stark reflection of the change of approach from the current US administration on matters of ocean conservation, however, the federal agency NOAA (National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration) last week hailed deep seabed mining as “the next gold rush”, celebrating Trump’s move to ‘unlock access to critical deep seabed minerals.’ 

NOAA has stated that in support of the Executive Order it is ‘committed to an expeditious review of applications for exploration licences and commercial recovery permits.’ 

“With this Executive Order, the President is paving the way for supply chain resilience and a thriving domestic manufacturing industry,” said Erik Noble, principal deputy assistant secretary of commerce for oceans and atmosphere. “The United States will lead the world in deep sea mineral extraction, and NOAA is the tip of the spear as we partner with federal agencies and private industry to support the discovery and collection of critical minerals on the sea floor.”

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