President Donald Trump’s executive order to access critical deep-seabed minerals is raising concerns among the international authorities with jurisdiction over resources in international waters.
Last week, President Trump issued an executive order to “unleash America’s offshore critical minerals and resources.” The executive order prioritizes U.S. leadership in seabed mapping and mineral exploration with the aim of ensuring reliable access to critical minerals like manganese, nickel, cobalt, and rare earth elements.
Days after the executive order, The Metals Company (TMC) USA submitted applications to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) for two exploration licenses and one commercial recovery permit under the Deep Seabed Hard Mineral Resources Act (DSHMRA).
The application area for the commercial recovery permit covers a total combined area of 25,160 square kilometers (9,714 square miles) in the Clarion Clipperton Zone.
However, the Clarion–Clipperton zone, an environmental management area of the Pacific Ocean, is being administered by the International Seabed Authority (ISA), a United Nations-affiliated body.
In a statement on Thursday, Leticia Reis de Carvalho, Secretary-General of the International Seabed Authority, said that the executive order regarding deep-seabed mineral resources “raises specific concerns because while the Order primarily addresses domestic political and policy matters, its reference to applicability in areas beyond national jurisdiction becomes a matter of the rule of law within the global ocean governance framework known as UNCLOS (the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea).”
These concerns have been “made more severe by the fact that the recent permit request is for mining in the deep sea outside of the jurisdiction of the United States.”
A direct corollary of the legal status of the UNCLOS is that “no State may claim, acquire, or exercise sovereignty or sovereign rights over any part of the Area or its mineral resources,” Reis de Carvalho said.
“This includes a prohibition on appropriation and alienation by any State, or by any natural or juridical person.”
By Charles Kennedy for Oilprice.com
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