
Chinese deep-sea mining vehicle being tested in the Pacific Ocean in July 2024
Credit: Shanghai Jiao Tong University/Handout via Xinhua News Agency/Alamy
Mining companies hope that 2025 will be the year they can finally start extracting valuable minerals from the ocean floor.
For more than 20 years, the International Seabed Authority (ISA), the UN-affiliated agency responsible for regulating deep-sea mining on the high seas, has been unable to finalize norms for extracting minerals found on the ocean floor. Negotiations remain at a stalemate, and the impasse could allow countries to proceed without a global agreement.