The Canadian company requires us to obtain a mining permit in the depths of the seas, bypassing the United Nations Agency

A Canadian company announced on Tuesday that its US branch has submitted requests to the National Oceanic and Air Force Administration I have the sea floorWhich angered by bypassing the United Nations agency, which is organized in depth International Water.

Metal CompanyIts headquarters in Vancouver said that she is seeking to obtain licenses for exploration and commercial recovery permit, on the occasion of the first time a company applies to the sea floor.

This deposit is expected to provoke a complex legal battle because the Jamaica -based Sea -based sea agency, the United Nations agency that regulates the depths of international seas, has the power of exploitation permits.

The authority said in late March after that

The Minerals Company announced its intention to request permission from the United States government to start mining the depths of the seas in international waters.

There are currently no regulations in place to oversee such mining because scientists warn that extracting minerals from biological ecosystems that help regulate climate change can cause permanent damage.

This deposit comes less than a week after US President Donald Trump issued an executive order directing the Minister of Commerce to expedite the review and issuance of exploration and commercial recovery permits, among other things.

“With these applications, we offer the United States a ready-made way for the shovel to the new supplies, the abundance of nickel, copper, cobalt, manganese-critical minerals for energy, infrastructure and defense,” Gerard Baron, Chairman and CEO of Minerals said in a statement.

Environmental advocates and activists have criticized this step, saying ISA has the only ability to authorize exploitation permits.

“This unilateral American effort to raise the periphery of the Pacific is already facing fierce international opposition,” said Ruth Ramos, senior international activists in Greenpes. “Governments around the world must now ascend to defend international rules and cooperation against deep rogue mining.”

For years, members of the Council of Authority discussed how to allow mining in the depths of the seas. To date, the Authority has released exploration licenses only, with most of the current exploratory activity in the CLARION-CLIPPERTON broken area, which covers 1.7 million square miles (4.5 million square kilometers) between Hawaii and Mexico. At least 17 of 31 licenses were issued to this region, with an exploration of depths ranging from 13,000 to 19,000 feet (from 4000 to 6000 meters).

The International Sea Foundation was established in 1994 by the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea, which is approved by more than 165 countries – but not the United States.

The Minerals Company has argued that the US Sea Foundation Law will allow it to start operations in international waters, because it is not a member of power and therefore does not abide by its rules.

“After the continuous delay at the international level, the United States now has a clear opportunity to restore its leadership role in the depths of the seas and set a global standard for developing deep science -based resources,” Baron said.

But Emily Jeffrez, a senior lawyer at the United States Biological Diversity Center, said that it is not a conclusion that the company will be granted permission to extract it under the US Sea Faculty Law, which requires a complete environmental analysis.

She said in an interview on the phone: “This basic system was on books 45 years ago, and there is a reason for not using any other companies to extract minerals from the sea floor,” she said in an interview on the phone. “The science is clear that companies cannot fulfill the criteria required by the statute. There is no way to make mining in the depths of the seas without having a major and catastrophic impact on the environment.”

Going now

• Read the franchise letter in the elections for conservative leader Pierre Beyvyre

• Pierre Poiliver loses his 20 -year horse riding

Jeffrez said that if the Trump administration agrees to permit, it will face legal challenges from environmental organizations.

In late March, the Vancouver company announced that it will seek permission from the United States to start the depths of the seas in international waters to extract minerals used in electric car batteries and other green technology.

The announcement was issued just hours before the ISA Council met on the last day of a week -long conference focusing on how to allow this mining. Scientists said that the rush to collect minerals that take millions of years to form can unleash noise, light and error from dirt storms in the depths of the Earth’s oceans.

Jeff Wattars, deputy head of foreign affairs for non -profit conservation in the United States, said: “Mining depths of the seas has the ability to influence not only on the sea bottom environment, but all life between them.” “There are a lot of puzzles around this part of the ocean where we were just able to scratch the surface.”

He said that the depths of the depths of the seas are “not an experience that we must do.”

In an interview over the phone, Watters said that the area that the Metal Company is seeking to explore is greater than the size of the southern Dakota and the extraction area is greater than the volume of Vermont.

“Size and size are huge,” he said.

Mining companies said that the metal harvesting from the sea floor instead of the ground is cheaper and has a lower environmental effect.

A spokesman for the Authority refused to comment and indicated the data it had earlier this year.

The Authority said it has the only legal mandate for organizing minerals on the bottom of the International Sea. She pointed out that the international legal system established by the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea applies to all states, regardless of whether it is members or not.

The Authority said: “Any endeavor that is made outside the recognized and consensual international framework, or in an attempt to circumvent international law, may bear the legal, diplomatic, economic, security, financial and reputation risks.”