Trump’s Support for Seabed Mining Draws EU Criticism
- Trump makes unilateral policies regarding deep-sea mining and critical raw materials.
- The UNCLOS treaty is shunned, and the European Commission reprimands the actions.
The U.S. President Donald Trump’s executive order giving the go-ahead for American companies to conduct deep-sea mining in international waters received flak from the European Commission.
Trump's recent move goes awry in the context of global discourses led by the United Nations’ International Seabed Authority (ISA), which is working to finalise rules regarding deep-sea mining. The EU says this is an illegal act, and it 'deeply regrets' Trump's actions.
Recently, the ISA concluded a meeting without finalising the official rulebook for deep-sea mining. For the time being, there is a de facto global pause on such activities until laws are framed to cushion against the depletion of ocean resources.
The U.S.'s unilateral policy goes beyond the agreed international terms and undermines efforts to create a shared, safe, and sustainable approach to ocean resource extraction.
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So far, 168 countries and the EU have signed the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS), which governs the seas. However, the U.S. has yet to sign the agreement, with opposition from some Republican lawmakers over the years reportedly cited as the reason.
The EU says that UNCLOS is widely accepted and legally binding for all countries, including the ones that have not officially signed it.
Criticisms are emanating from various quarters. Experts strongly oppose Trump's decision, saying that it poses a direct threat to the natural carbon capture capacity of the oceans and leads to unregulated exploitation of ocean resources, environmental harm, and a decrease in cohesion on how nations manage the seas.
The U.S.'s biggest competitor, China, along with other countries, is also condemning the latest ambitions of the Trump administration in international waters, mainly because it has not formally joined the UNCLOS treaty.
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Currently, there is growing animosity towards the U.S. for not respecting the treaty and taking actions on its own to alter the course of global ocean resources. To make matters worse, Trump is also a climate denier, and his actions will only widen the already existing fissures.
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Source: euro news
