A Chinese deep-sea mining vehicle during a trial in the Pacific Ocean in July 2024 Credit: Shanghai Jiao Tong University/Handout via Xinhua/Alamy
Mining companies are hoping that 2025 will be the year they can finally start harvesting valuable minerals from the ocean floor.
For over two decades, the International Seabed Authority (ISA), the UN-affiliated body charged with regulating deep-sea mining in international waters, has been unable to finalise a code for the harvesting of minerals found on the ocean floor. With negotiations remaining deadlocked, the impasse could see states going ahead without a global agreement.
