Mining could spell deep trouble for the deep sea. Canada can help

Everyone knows the story of the old lady who swallowed a fly. In order to solve her problem, she comes up with increasingly outrageous and outlandish solutions, which then force her to do something even more extreme.

It’s hard not to be reminded of this old nursery rhyme as countries gather in Kingston, Jamaica, for a meeting of the International Seabed Authority (ISA), which is working right now to develop rules that could allow deep-sea mining to go ahead as soon as 2024.

To hear proponents tell it, mining the deep seabed is the best way to get the minerals we need to power the electric vehicles that will help us reduce emissions and fight climate change. In order to do so, we simply have to disturb or destroy some of the planet’s last intact ecosystems, which sequester vast amounts of carbon and are so poorly understood that new species are found there on a regular basis.

This plan does not make sense. The twin crises of biodiversity loss and climate change are connected: we can’t keep robbing biodiversity Peter to pay climate Paul. Early evidence suggests that deep-sea ecosystems are very sensitive and, having formed over millennia, take decades or centuries to recover — if they recover at all.

That’s not to mention other effects, such as plumes of sediment that can travel kilometres away from the mine site and affect species throughout the water column. The deep sea helps regulate the climate, supports healthy fisheries and cycles the elements that allow life in the ocean to flourish. At the very least, scientists say, we should wait until we understand more about the deep sea and what impacts that mining is likely to have.

To the companies that now sense there is treasure at the bottom of the ocean, however, taking the time to gather this information is seen as an impediment rather than basic due diligence.

It will ultimately be up to the international community and the leadership of principled, forward-thinking countries to protect these global commons.

So where is Canada right now?

Our country has positioned itself internationally as a global leader in protecting nature. But at the ISA, of which Canada is a member, Canada has failed to provide the leadership that is both expected and needed. Allies like Spain, Germany, New Zealand, Costa Rica and Chile have already called for a pause or moratorium; earlier this week, France joined the chorus, with President Emmanuel Macron arguing for a complete ban on deep-sea mining. However, Canada has yet to come out publicly with a position either way. This is despite the fact that The Metals Company, the deep-sea mining outfit pushing hardest for access to international waters, is based in Vancouver.

Why is a Canadian company looking to mine in international waters rather than closer to home? This is in part because Canada has no official position for or against deep-sea mining, but also because Canada has no legal regime that would categorically allow or prevent it.

We do, however, have legislation that would make it much harder: The Fisheries Act, the Oceans Act and the Species at Risk Act, which protect marine ecosystems and biodiversity from the type and level of harm that is an inevitable byproduct of deep-sea mining. If Canada’s federal regulations would deem deep-sea mining too destructive in our own waters, it seems only fair that Canada should hold the industry to the same standard internationally. The deep sea belongs to all of us.

There is still time before the ISA meetings close on Nov. 11, which means Canada still has an opportunity to end its silence on this issue. In just over a month, the country will host COP15 in Montreal, bringing the world together to discuss what must be done to halt biodiversity loss. By joining other countries calling for a pause on deep-sea mining, Canada could enter the negotiations with recent and tangible proof of its commitment to conservation — and possibly inspire other countries to do more, too.

Deep-sea mining promises a big upside with few downsides. After all, it would be harder to think of a place that is further out of sight — and, therefore, out of mind. But the fact is that we do not actually know what will happen, and history suggests that we are not very good at anticipating the consequences of large-scale ecosystem alteration.

In an era of unprecedented biodiversity loss and significant risks to ocean health from climate change, deep-sea mining is not the kind of economic innovation or leadership we need. It’s time for Canada to take a stand and put a stop to it before it starts — in Canadian waters and on the high seas.

Dr. Susanna Fuller is the vice-president of operations and projects at Oceans North, a Canadian charity that supports marine conservation in partnership with Indigenous and coastal communities.