The Hidden Gem, a former drilling ship, docks in Rotterdam, Netherlands, to be converted into the American Bureau of Shipping’s first sub-sea mining vessel. Credit: Charles M. Vella/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images
Three Pacific island nations announced this week that they had formed a new alliance calling for a moratorium on deep-sea mining until the environmental risks of the nascent industry are better understood and appropriate regulations are put in place. Whether countries should be allowed to extract minerals from the seafloor has become an increasingly important debate as countries race to find the metals needed for batteries that will power the clean energy transition.
Government mandates to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and the growing popularity of electric vehicles have driven a figurative gold rush in recent years…