With the issue in the news, we highlight resources from our consensus-based work.
Deep seabed mining is in the news, with a new U.S. Executive Order on the topic announced by the White House in late April. The order, titled Unleashing America’s Offshore Critical Minerals and Resources, is intended to accelerate U.S. development of seabed mineral resources.
Under international law, the U.N. Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) provides the legal framework and the International Seabed Authority (ISA) regulates the development of mineral resources in the Clarion-Clipperton Zone (CCZ) and other areas of the ocean beyond national jurisdiction. Mining has not yet taken place in international waters, though interested countries and companies have taken steps to explore the resources that exist and advance technologies to extract them from the seafloor. Some countries, like the Cook Islands, are starting to allow mining companies to explore deep sea mineral resources within their national boundaries.
There are a variety of environments on the ocean seafloor rich in minerals, however attention in recent years has been focused on the potato-sized polymetallic nodules located 4,000 – 6,000 meters (13,000 - 19,500 feet) underwater, spread across the ocean floor in an area of international waters between Hawaii and Mexico known as the CCZ. These nodules contain critical minerals like copper, cobalt, nickel, and rare earth minerals, valuable in part due to their use in technologies powering the energy transition and supporting national security.
Since 2015, RESOLVE has facilitated dialogues and consensus building around issues associated with development of a mining code for deep seabed mining in areas beyond national jurisdiction, being negotiated at the ISA. Many of the products of this work, such as workshop reports and webinar recordings, are available on our website.
With new attention on deep seabed mining, we wanted to highlight a few of these resources that are particularly relevant to topics included in the Executive Order.
Our activities over the years have touched on a number of other issues, such as the financial model for deep seabed mining, stakeholder engagement in deep seabed mining governance, and cultural connections to the deep sea. We encourage you to look through the resources on our website to learn more.
AtRESOLVE, we are continuing to track this important and complex issue. We are also keeping an eye out for opportunities to employ our consensus building skill and technical knowledge in support of protecting the environment and meeting growing demand for a sustainable, safe supply of minerals.
Please reach out to Paul De Morgan or Maya Breitburg-Smith if you have any questions.
May 12, 2025
At RESOLVE, we’re here to tackle the toughest global challenges. The ones nobody else wants to touch. Where people are in conflict and planet problems are stuck. We’re here to unstick them. It’s not easy. It takes grit and ingenuity. And finding and working with the right partners. But we’re not called RESOLVE for nothing.
