The secret race to buy the ocean floor

Private companies are pushing for licenses to commercially mine the ocean floor. And the organization created to protect the deep sea is helping them accomplish this.

Reporter: Emily Leshner
Video Editor: Markus Mörtz
Supervising Editor: Malte Rohwer-Kahlmann

We're destroying our environment at an alarming rate. But it doesn't need to be this way. Our new channel Planet A explores the shift towards an eco-friendly world — and challenges our ideas about what dealing with climate change means. We look at the big and the small: What we can do and how the system needs to change. Every Friday we'll take a truly global look at how to get us out of this mess.

#PlanetA #DeepSea #DeepSeaMining

Read more:

Chapters:
00:00 Intro
00:54 What is seabed mining?
02:51 Who does the sea belong to?
06:02 Exploration or exploitation?
08:01 The ocean and international law
10:40 Conclusion

[DWPlanetA]

What do you think - should we start mining our oceans now?

[philmatthews]

'To benefit all of Humankind' means 'For the benefit of a handful of mega wealthy greedy selfish people'. It does not in any way mean to benefit the creatures that live on and depend on the sea floor.

[SaveMoneySavethePlanet]

Gotta love how the companies say “we need to mine in order to switch to EVs.” All while ignoring the fact that pushing for better public transit and bike infrastructure would reduce our emissions even more while using even less resources…

…you know, I’m starting to think they might just care about profits! /s

[phuacobasurto]

We should totally avoid by any means sea bed mining, here in Peru, foreign companies cause lots of contamination by mining close to small towns, ruining rivers and once fertile land, and despite the illness of so many people due to that, nothing happens, now imagine big corporations destroying the bed of the ocean, where no humans live, for sure it could be even worse.
It is hard to get people in the middle of the ocean to constantly supervise the damages done there, it is too risky from my point of view.
We should protest so that the ISA does not allow that to happen, as soon as the first mining is allowed, there will be so many more to come... If that happens, we will be one step closer to failing as a species by destroying such a wonderful planet.

[sourceman]

This will not only damage marine life, but it will lead to carbon emissions, because there is a lot of dissolved organic matter on the ocean floor, and these mining machinery will transport it to the surface where this organic matter will decompose and release co2.

[Nkanyiso_K]

We have Solar, Wind, Hydro & even nuclear: *Why on Earth would carve up the planet* We have to protect at least 30% of our coastlines to save our fish, *not destroy the sea floors!*

[davinbrown]

More people need to know about this! Omg they could mess up our whole food chain/ ecosystem

[DB-ubwx]

The damage we cause to our planet every day is awful and it seems its only going to get worse :(

[angeel.]

This is so shocking. I can't believe the ISA is setting these plans up when it should clearly aim to safeguard our seas' and, therefore, our planet's integrity instead of basically prompting actions that damage it the most.

We, as a so-called modern and more conscious society, need to push for these actions to stop as soon as we can.

Thanks DW for bringing awareness to this important issue.

[tomo]

Yes, start mining the ocean floor today, so we can trash the ecosystem as soon as possible. And if possible, please do the processing of the minerals near the ocean or at a river, so we can just pump the chemicals and byproducts like heavy metals without cleaning back in the waters. Only money matters, so the rich can benefit more. And hopefully with the dreadging the ocean floor we can release huge amounts of trapped methane, it would be an added benefit too.

[bebefoglia]

We should NEVER mine the seabed. We already know what happen when you exploit resources on the environments on the surface: the same thing is going to happen on the seabed.

[takuan]

The notion of sharing something for the benefit of all human kind is totally alien to a shareholder, corporation or politician.

[ycl]

We should not mine the ocean beds. The ISA has to be re-structured. In my opinion, the Oceans' are the Earth's last balancing block for us to survive on it. This has to be considered very deeply. Plus never have a commercial company dictate terms to a Regulator. Totally absurd.

[hellothere]

The only thing that's transparent with ISA here is the corruption. If mining on land is clearly damaging the environment, what is going to happen out the middle of nowhere with no responsibilities?

[TheRealAirhead]

This definitely needs to get into more public eye. 99% of us have no idea this is even going on, where is our opinion heard as the people of this earth? Where can I cast my vote to this?

[hillockfarm]

I find it incomprehensable that after all the proof of mining damage on land the position here is that it is possible rather than fact that this will cause damage. Even without the company shifting responsibility to another party, money doesn't fix everything. And often fixing damage either takes decades or just makes more damage when we don't really know how what we try to fix really works.

[adamlytle]

I'm glad that this video focused on the lack of transparency and seeming conflicts of interest at play in the ISA. Ultimately, I think seabed mining has the *potential* to be a *relatively* low-impact way to get the minerals we need to build a sustainable future. The nodules are literally just sitting there, ready to be picked up, as compared to some of the extreme measures we have to go to for land-based mining. HOWEVER, as is made clear in this video, profit-driven companies will take the cheapest/quickest path if given the chance, which means harvesting these resources in the least careful, most destructive way possible.

[sacedive]

I was a deep sea diver and I can attest that it kills everything and they don’t come back. Not within the few years I did it.

[azmidlyf]

The key word in the license transitioning phases is Exploitation. How fitting...

[sakshamagrawal]

This needs public awareness and support. Ocean mining is a very dangerous proposition, and should be considered very thoroughly and be very transparent and accountable, otherwise we will loose our oceans.