DEEP TROUBLE The murky world of the deep sea mining industry i Published by Greenpeace International. CONTENTS Lead author: Louisa Casson, with contributions from Jack Alexander and the Greenpeace UK EXECUTIVE SUMMARY 2 Investigations Unit, Kathryn Miller, INTRODUCTION 5 David Santillo and Greenpeace Research Laboratories, An Lambrechts and the Greenpeace LEGAL PRINCIPLES GOVERNING THE INTERNATIONAL SEABED 7 Belgium Investigations Unit, Duncan State of play 8 Currie, Cassandra Söderström, George Private sector dominance of the Clarion-Clipperton Zone 8 Duncan-Jones and Sebastian Losada. Main private sector players 9 Editor and designer: Emily Buchanan. DeepGreen 9 Nauru Offshore Resources Inc 9 Tonga Offshore Mining 10 Marawa 12 Bankrupt: Nautilus 13 Lockheed Martin/UK Seabed Resources 13 Ocean Mineral Singapore 14 DEME/Global Sea Mineral Resources and the Cook Islands Investment Corp 15 Blue Minerals Jamaica 17 Links to fossil fuel and terrestrial mining companies 17 ACCOUNTABILITY, EQUITY AND ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION 18 Monopolising the global commons 18 Effective control and liability risks for developing nations 18 Environmental liability 20 Inequity of environmental impacts 21 Doubts over the economic benefits to sponsoring States 22 CORPORATE INFLUENCE ON INTERNATIONAL NEGOTIATIONS 25 Corporations' presence at the ISA 25 Corporate lobbying 25 CORPORATE CAPTURE: AN ENABLING ENVIRONMENT FOR BUSINESS AGENDAS 27 Legal and Technical Commission members employed by contractors 28 Revolving door 28 CONCLUSION 31 REFERENCES 32 THE LOST CITY, ATLANTIC OCEAN. A hydrothermal vent field under threat from deep sea mining ii© NOAADEEP /TROUBLE: OAR / OER. THE MURKY WORLD OF THE DEEP SEA MINING INDUSTRY CONTENTS 1 companies. By working through networks of supported exploration applications later EXECUTIVE SUMMARY sub-contractors, partnerships or subsidiaries, joining a company as an advisor, ministers the dominance of Canadian-registered serving on deep sea mining company boards DeepGreen, Belgian corporate Dredging, as ‘citizens’ while in office, and a company Environmental and Marine Engineering lawyer advising government delegations in In a planetary emergency, why COMMERCIAL EXPLORATION OF FRAGILE GLOBAL NV (DEME), and US arms manufacturer international tribunal hearings. would governments open up a new COMMONS IS INCREASING DESPITE SERIOUS Lockheed Martin, is not immediately obvious frontier for mining in the ocean and ENVIRONMENTAL AND ECONOMIC MISGIVINGS or accountable. CORPORATE CAPTURE OF THE who is pushing them to do so? → As the deep sea mining industry develops and → The obscure workings and acquisitions of INTERNATIONAL REGULATOR governments negotiate rules to potentially open up Scientists warn that deep sea Canadian corporation DeepGreen to gain → The industry’s regulator (the ISA) has the international seabed to commercial mining, it is mining could lead to inevitable and exploration contracts via ostensibly local consistently prioritised the development increasingly clear that far from fulfilling lofty ambitions irreparable harm in our oceans, entities sponsored by Nauru, Kiribati and of deep sea mining over the preservation to boost global development and benefit humanity, including damage to the natural Tonga, casts doubt over the extent to which of the deep ocean. This has enabled a deep sea mining would magnify the inequities and processes that store carbon. Yet sponsoring States would financially benefit deep sea mining industry to develop with environmental harm of previous extractive industries if a handful of private companies from any deep sea mining. limited controls on corporate changes of it is allowed to begin. ownership and the ensuing risks to both the are leading the charge, heavily → DeepGreen, DEME and Lockheed Martin environment and equity. influencing the UN regulator and → An area roughly the size of France and Germany subsidiaries have sought arrangements lobbying governments to carve up combined has already been opened up to exploration with SIDS to allow these North American → Private sector mining companies appear to the international seabed for profit for deep sea mining. To date, 30 contracts to explore and European parent companies to access exert a heavy influence over the international and destruction – and sometimes, for deep sea mining viability, covering over a million areas of international seabed ‘reserved’ negotiations determining the future of remarkably, even speaking on square kilometres of the international seabed, have for developing nations. Despite calls for the seabed, lobbying governments to behalf of governments in political been given out by the International Seabed Authority disclosure, details of the arrangements urgently finalise rules that would allow negotiations. (ISA). Nearly a third of these contracts involve private between the companies and the for full-scale mining of the deep ocean to companies, largely headquartered in North America Despite serious misgivings about the governments remain secret, making it begin, with a financial regime that would and Europe, including some with links to the fossil fuel, fundamental viability of the industry, difficult to ascertain what benefit, if any, the maximise corporate profits. To date there terrestrial mining and other polluting sectors. deep sea mining companies claim States will derive from the partnership in has been inadequate discussion between that giving them access to mine the → Deep sea mining will cause serious and irreversible return for the risks taken. governments as to where and to whom the corporate share of any profits from deep sea global oceans would benefit poorer damage to the ocean biome, risks driving biodiversity → The murky acquisitions of ISA contracts by mining will ultimately flow. nations and future generations. loss and could potentially damage an important a small number of parent companies raises 1 But by tracking the ownership and carbon sink: the deep ocean. Impacts experienced pertinent questions over transparency, → While senior staff at the ISA make beneficiaries of the companies with from increasing risks to food security will fall accountability and equity in the increasingly pro-mining comments and nearly a third of the exploration disproportionately on developing countries. The international regime for deep sea mining. amplify private companies, the ISA’s powerful contracts, this report raises important emerging deep sea mining industry faces mounting The development of the deep sea mining advisory commission includes experts questions about who stands to opposition, including from civil society groups in small industry in practice stands at odds with employed by deep sea mining contractors. benefit – and who is left at risk – if island nations who have called out foreign private governments’ legal obligations to ensure Controversially, spokesmen from DeepGreen2 deep sea mining is allowed to begin. companies for leaving their nations environmentally that any mining in the international seabed and DEME3 have quite literally spoken threatened and financially liable. would benefit humankind overall, especially This Greenpeace International on behalf of governments, addressing developing nations. investigation demonstrates how ISA meetings from Nauru and Belgium MURKY CORPORATE PRACTICES WHICH OBSCURE government seats respectively. mineral exploration of the deep sea, LINES OF PROFIT AND LIABILITY a global commons, has become UNDUE INFLUENCE OF DEEP SEA MINING COMPANIES ON GOVERNMENT POLICY Governments face key political decisions in the monopolised by a small number → Investigating the corporate structures of the leading next 12 months – including whether to open up of corporations headquartered proponents of deep sea mining reveals that the → Greenpeace investigations suggest that the largest ecosystem on Earth, the international in the Global North, working concentration of ISA exploration contracts are some governments are basing their seabed, to commercial mining. In making these through subsidiaries, partners in the hands of a few private companies whose estimates of the economic value of deep decisions, governments must consider whether and subcontractors in an effort management, directors and those in line to profit sea mining solely on industry calculations. the deep sea mining industry may simply direct to maintain the illusion that deep are based overwhelmingly in the Global North. The The British government, for example, has any profits to a handful of companies in the sea mining can be a public good. States sponsoring these companies, largely Small presented as a fact that the UK stands to Global North while the brunt of environmental Meanwhile, the few developing Island Developing States (SIDS), are exposed to benefit to the tune of £40 billion, apparently harm, legal liability and financial risk is faced by nations that are sponsoring these liability and financial risk. Developing States also risk based only on an estimate provided by nations in the Global South. companies’ exploration contracts are the disproportionate burden of environmental harm. weapons giant and mining prospector To protect against this, governments must exposed to significant liabilities and Numerous contractor compliance issues have already Lockheed Martin, without any independent ensure that the deep ocean remains off-limits risk as a result of the opaque and been reported in the exploration phase but details analysis to substantiate the figure. complex corporate structures of their remain