As countries scramble for minerals, the seabed beckons. Will mining it be a disaster? – visual explainer

We recently learned that some of the rocks they want to mine provide some of the oxygen for this planet. This shouldn't be done for many reasons, but if you need a selfish one then less oxygen seems like good reason to not mine.

So many horror movies have been made about this, because we know less about the ocean than space. This is a worse idea than mining the moon

Btw the 30th Session of the International Seabed Authority (ISA) has started in March and will end in July.

There is some hope in relation to the outcomes, now that Carvalho has assumed her position of Secretary General at ISA. At her inaugural statement she said, among other things:

Together, we will embark on a new era defined by collaboration, equity, inclusiveness, transparency, accountability, effectiveness and sustainability—values that will guide our collective efforts to ensure ISA remains a trusted steward of the ocean.

The deep seabed in the areas beyond national jurisdiction – the Area - encompassing over 54 per cent of our planet’s surface, falls under ISA’s mandate. This places a profound responsibility on the ISA for planetary good governance. Our mandate is clear: to organize and regulate activities in the Area in fulfilment of the Common Heritage Principle on behalf of States Parties and for the benefit of humankind as a whole. This includes a list of crucial responsibilities: sustainable resource management; environmental protection; equitable benefit-sharing; the promotion and encouragement of marine scientific research; and the dissemination of its results. These pillars guide our work to ensure that seabed resources are managed responsibly, equitably and in alignment with the highest evidence-based scientific and environmental standards.

The equitable benefit-sharing sounds a bit alarming tbh, because it gives me the impression that some permits for deep-sea mining will be given. We'll see how that goes.