Indigenous representation at the International Seabed Authority is crucial to protect the moana for all humankind and for future generations. This is more vital than ever as the Trump administration pushes for US access to so called ‘critical’ minerals and deep sea mining threatens the Pacific Ocean.
Defending Te Moana-Nui-a-Kiwa
I am writing this from Kingston, Jamaica, at the annual session of the International Seabed Authority (ISA).
Decisions are being made inside these halls that could open the Pacific Ocean floor to commercial deep sea mining — a destructive practice that threatens fragile marine ecosystems, including habitats that we need to keep our planet healthy and liveable.
The ISA is an international organisation charged with regulating minerals-related activity in the deep seabed of international waters. Importantly, the deep seabed is legally designated as the common heritage of all humankind.
It’s vital for Pacific Peoples to be in these rooms, as they are on the frontline of this fight. We participate in this space with ‘observer status’, but this term falls far short of describing the relationship we have maintained with the Pacific Ocean, as its first stewards and guardians, for millenia.
If Indigenous voices are absent, our unique collective rights — and who we are — are at risk. Foreign states and wannabe corporate miners will reduce our ancestral waters to a resource that could be exploited, with profits for only a few.
The barriers to our participation
Getting to this meeting was a battle long before the opening plenary.
Frontline and Indigenous advocates face immense institutional barriers including getting observer accreditation, (because rights holders mean nothing in this space), and limited floor access, which is needed to make statements, enriching talks with more diverse perspectives.
Overcoming those barriers requires an incredible physical, financial, and emotional toll.
Travelling halfway across the globe on a shoestring budget — funded by community support and sheer determination — comes with constant uncertainty and brings fatigue. Travelling as a brown, Indigenous woman means avoiding hostile routes and connections which compounds expenses and time away from my everyday responsibilities.
But I endure all of this because our ocean and our people can’t afford for me to be anything but hopeful, persistent, and brave.
The United States’ aggressive push for unilateral mining
The pressure inside the ISA is directly connected to a broader geopolitical push. Under the Trump administration, the US and mining companies such as The Metals Company are moving toward a unilateral mining code. By invoking domestic laws like the Deep Seabed Hard Mineral Resources Act, US interests are seeking to bypass international agreements including the United Nations Convention of the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS). They’re also trying to bypass the ISA altogether — setting a dangerous precedent where super power nations grant themselves the right to tear up international waters.
This push poses legal risks for our Pacific nations. If government agencies allow their research vessels — such as New Zealand’s RV Tangaroa or the Cook Islands’ MV Anuanua Moana — to gather data for deep sea mining exploration, these governments risk complicity in breaches of international law.
Jared Novelly and the geopolitical threat
The newly appointed US Ambassador to Aotearoa New Zealand, the Cook Islands, Niue, and Samoa, is Trump’s friend and oil billionaire, Jared Novelly.
Novelly publicly stated that securing so-called ‘critical’ seabed minerals — particularly in the Cook Islands — is his top priority. This is in spite of Cook Islands’ voters overwhelming opposition to seabed mining.
At the same time, the Trump Administration is negotiating a minerals deal with NZ, as they have been with other countries, to stockpile for both defense and industrial needs. Our ocean could be stripped of minerals to serve the US war mongering and genocide being carried out right now.
Alarmingly, Novelly also took shots at our proud nuclear-free policy in Aotearoa, expressing a desire to “go back in time” to roll back the historic laws that keep foreign nuclear warships out of our harbours.
We must reject Jared Novelly’s rhetoric and the foreign mineral deals being forced upon Pacific nations. The ocean floor isn’t a side quest for rich kids, nor is it collateral for the United States’ military agenda.
Corporate capture of the ISA
A big issue discussed at this Assembly meeting was the request from contractors — i.e. the companies that wish to mine the seafloor — to be given observer status. They expect the privilege to attend official meetings, listen to discussions and contribute when observers are invited.
Disappointingly, the only substantive decision of the week is that contractors now have the right to attend and speak at the next session of assembly. The mining industry has direct access to countries to push their agenda and lobby, and validates our concerns.
Those that need to be regulated will be able to influence their own regulations. For frontline communities and Indigenous Peoples, this means competing with our polluter hopefuls over an already shrunken space, just to be heard.
People won’t benefit from deep sea mining
Any minerals extraction from the seabed in international waters is required to benefit all of humanity, particularly lower-income nations that have long been exploited for resources. Yet, the current profit-sharing plans show little evidence of delivering real financial fairness.
According to a recent independent economic study by Greenpeace, the projected earnings are so insignificant compared to national economies that they simply cannot justify the immense risk to the deep ocean.
Our Nuclear-Free Legacy: We’ve defeated superpowers before
Our resistance isn’t a new thing. Aotearoa and the broader Pacific built a proud legacy by standing up to global superpowers — rejecting nuclear testing and declaring a Nuclear-Free Pacific.
Protecting our sea floor today from deep sea mining is a continuation of that same fight against foreign militarism and exploitation of our people and our home. Just as our elder generation stood firm against nuclear expansion, we must stand firm today: Te Moana-Nui-a-Kiwa is not for sale, and it will not be sacrificed.
It’s time for New Zealand to take a stand. Join our call on the New Zealand government to back a global moratorium on seabed mining.
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