Deep-Sea Mining: Industrializing the Earth's Last Sacred Space
A new global race for critical minerals is rapidly reshaping ocean governance.
Governments, corporations, and international institutions are advancing proposals to open vast areas of the deep ocean to industrial mining in pursuit of minerals used in batteries, artificial intelligence infrastructure, military technologies, and strategic supply chains. At the same time, longstanding legal protections, environmental safeguards, and mechanisms for public accountability are facing increasing pressure from deregulation, geopolitical competition, and accelerating resource demands.
Produced by RISE Earth Initiative in partnership with Water Protector Legal Collective, Deep-Sea Mining: Industrializing the Earth's Last Sacred Space, examines the legal, political, environmental, and human rights implications of opening the deep ocean to extraction.
The deep ocean is one of Earth’s last largely intact ecosystems. It regulates climate, stores vast amounts of carbon, produces oxygen, and sustains marine life across the planet. For Indigenous Peoples throughout the Pacific, the ocean is more than an ecosystem—it is ancestor, teacher, food source, migration pathway, and relative.
Yet this living system is increasingly being targeted for industrial extraction through deep-sea mining.
The report examines the science of deep-sea ecosystems, the growing push for ocean extraction, Indigenous perspectives from Hawaiʻi and the Pacific, and the global movement emerging to protect the deep ocean before irreversible harm occurs.
The report explores:
• The ecology and importance of the deep ocean
• How deep-sea mining works and where it is proposed
• Risks to biodiversity, fisheries, and ocean health
• Indigenous relationships with the ocean and Pacific perspectives
• Ocean governance and international decision-making
• Climate, conservation, and environmental justice considerations
• Growing calls for precautionary approaches and moratoria
Commercial deep-sea mining has not yet begun at scale. This creates a rare opportunity to make decisions before damage occurs rather than after.
The future of the deep ocean remains unwritten. This report seeks to contribute to a broader public understanding of what is at stake and why the protection of the ocean matters for present and future generations.
The ocean is not a sacrifice zone.
READ THE FULL REPORT: