{"id":60078093,"date":"2025-04-24T12:57:20","date_gmt":"2025-04-24T11:57:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/?p=60078093"},"modified":"2025-05-02T17:48:12","modified_gmt":"2025-05-02T16:48:12","slug":"qa-can-trump-really-approve-mining-in-international-waters","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/ocean\/qa-can-trump-really-approve-mining-in-international-waters\/","title":{"rendered":"Q&amp;A: Can Trump really approve mining in international waters?"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>Pressure to open the international seabed for mining is mounting.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Last month, Canadian business The Metals Company (TMC) <a href=\"https:\/\/investors.metals.co\/news-releases\/news-release-details\/metals-company-apply-permits-under-existing-us-mining-code-deep\">announced<\/a> plans to apply to US authorities for permission to mine in international waters. That could mean bypassing a United Nations seabed regulator that has for years been considered the only body capable of giving such approval.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-cd-did-you-know alignright block--did-you-know\"><p class=\"block--did-you-know__title\">Editor\u2019s note<\/p><div class=\"block--did-you-know__content\"><p>Just hours after this interview was published, US President Donald Trump signed an executive order on deep-sea mining, instructing his secretary of commerce to \u201cexpedite the process for reviewing and issuing exploration and commercial recovery permits\u201d. The story has been updated with this information and an additional response from the interviewee on the development.<\/p><\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n<p>The news shocked environmentalists and governments who have been pushing for a mining moratorium to prevent damage to little-understood ecosystems.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Deep-sea mining involves harvesting minerals more than 200 metres below the surface. Would-be miners are mainly targeting nickel, copper, cobalt and manganese. These \u201ccritical minerals\u201d are essential to modern technologies including smartphones, solar panels, wind turbines and electric vehicles. But collecting them could devastate vulnerable ecosystems, say those opposed to the plans.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Previously, most eyes had been focused on negotiations at the International Seabed Authority. ISA is a UN body that regulates seabed mining in international waters under the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea. Now, TMC says that \u2013 thanks to legislation passed in 1980 \u2013 the US government has the authority to regulate US citizens\u2019 commercial mining in international waters.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>On 24 April, US President Donald Trump announced an <a href=\"https:\/\/www.whitehouse.gov\/fact-sheets\/2025\/04\/fact-sheet-president-donald-j-trump-unleashes-americas-offshore-critical-minerals-and-resources\/\">executive order<\/a> asserting his country\u2019s right to exploit international seabeds, and allowing the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration \u2013 a US government agency \u2013 to give firms permission to mine.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Dialogue Earth spoke with Duncan Currie, a veteran environmental lawyer and long-time observer of negotiations at the ISA, about the developments and what they mean. Currie is a legal adviser to the Deep Sea Conservation Coalition, which advocates for a mining moratorium.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-cd-article-image aligncenter block--article-image block--article-image--article\" itemscope itemtype=\"http:\/\/schema.org\/ImageObject\"><div class=\"block--article-image__column\"><div class=\"hide-expand block--article-image__image\"><img class=\"lazy\" data-src=\"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/Duncan-Currie-DSCC-ISA-Council-28th-Session-7Nov2023-Photo-scaled.jpg\" data-srcset=\"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/Duncan-Currie-DSCC-ISA-Council-28th-Session-7Nov2023-Photo-768x510.jpg 768w, https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/Duncan-Currie-DSCC-ISA-Council-28th-Session-7Nov2023-Photo-1024x680.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/Duncan-Currie-DSCC-ISA-Council-28th-Session-7Nov2023-Photo-scaled.jpg 2560w\" data-sizes=\"(max-width: 600px) 768px, (max-width: 1024px) 1024px, 2560px\" alt=\"men sitting behind desks with microphones\"\/><\/div><div class=\"block--article-image__content\"><div itemprop=\"caption\" class=\"block--article-image__caption\">Duncan Currie (right) of the Deep Sea Conservation Coalition says there is widespread criticism of plans by The Metals Company to seek permission to mine directly from the US government (Photo by IISD\/ENB | Diego Noguera)<\/div><\/div><\/div><meta itemprop=\"contentUrl\" content=\"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/Duncan-Currie-DSCC-ISA-Council-28th-Session-7Nov2023-Photo-scaled.jpg\"\/><meta itemprop=\"contentSize\" content=\"503 KB\"\/><meta itemprop=\"height\" content=\"1700\"\/><meta itemprop=\"width\" content=\"2560\"\/><meta itemprop=\"author\"\/><meta itemprop=\"representativeOfPage\" content=\"true\"\/><\/div>\n\n\n\n<p>The conversation has been edited for length and clarity.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-dialogue-earth-the-metals-company-s-announcement-on-27-march-came-when-you-were-at-a-meeting-of-the-international-seabed-authority-what-was-your-immediate-reaction\" style=\"line-height:1.4em !important\">Dialogue Earth: The Metals Company\u2019s announcement on 27 March came when you were at a meeting of the International Seabed Authority. What was your immediate reaction?<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>Duncan Currie: My reaction was almost shock. Anger. Frustration. Almost every country that took the floor at the ISA meeting was deeply critical of the announcement.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The announcement has already impacted the company\u2019s relationships with the Pacific islands. The Pacific countries, such as Nauru, that have worked with the company to explore minerals and obtain commercial mining approval under the UN legal framework, must be feeling incredibly frustrated and confused.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-cd-accordion block--accordion\"><span class=\"block--accordion__title\">UN legal framework on deep-sea mining, a history<\/span><div class=\"block--accordion__content\"><div class=\"block--accordion__content__inner\">\n<p>The UN Convention of the Law of the Sea (Unclos) is a set of <a href=\"https:\/\/www.imo.org\/en\/ourwork\/legal\/pages\/unitednationsconventiononthelawofthesea.aspx#:~:text=The%20United%20Nations%20Convention%20on,the%20oceans%20and%20their%20resources.\">rules<\/a> adopted in 1982 to govern the ocean and its resources, including maritime boundaries, scientific research and economic activities.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.un.org\/depts\/los\/convention_agreements\/texts\/agreement_part_xi\/agreement_part_xi.htm\">Part XI<\/a> of the convention concerns deep-sea mining and states that an International Seabed Authority (ISA) should be set up to regulate mineral exploration and exploitation in the high seas. The ISA was established in 1994 when Unclos came into force and has been working since the early 2000s to create a Mining Code. Since the part of the code concerning exploration was adopted in 2014, ISA\u2019s focus has been on finalising rules for exploitation. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Also in 1994, after the US and other developed countries raised \u201ccertain difficulties\u201d with the Unclos deep-sea mining provisions, an <a href=\"https:\/\/www.un.org\/Depts\/los\/convention_agreements\/convention_overview_part_xi.htm#:~:text=To%20address%20certain%20difficulties%20with,of%20the%20Agreement%20shall%20prevail.\">agreement<\/a> was reached to modify them. The changes include a new rule allowing an ISA member to request that the body completes its Mining Code within two years and, if that is not achieved, \u201cprovisionally approves\u201d mining under whatever regulations are in place at the time. This is also known as \u201c<a href=\"https:\/\/www.reuters.com\/business\/environment\/pacific-island-nauru-sets-two-year-deadline-deep-sea-mining-rules-2021-06-29\/\">the two-year rule<\/a>\u201d.<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-were-you-previously-aware-of-the-us-s-1980-deep-seabed-hard-mineral-resources-act-which-tmc-says-gives-the-us-the-ability-to-approve-mining\" style=\"line-height:1.4em !important\">Were you previously aware of the US\u2019s 1980 Deep Seabed Hard Mineral Resources Act, which TMC says gives the US the ability to approve mining?<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>I knew about it. But I have always seen it, as I think most commentators have, as a belt-and-braces approach, a \u201cjust in case\u201d sort of arrangement. The legislation was there in case the US needed to invoke it as part of the Unclos multilateral scheme. It\u2019s not there as one or the other. It was there as part of the UN scheme.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<a class=\"wp-block-cd-related-news alignright block--related-news loading\" data-post-id=\"40090179\"><div class=\"block--related-news__image\"><\/div><div class=\"block--related-news__content\"><span class=\"block--related-news__heading\">Recommended<\/span><span class=\"block--related-news__title\"><\/span><\/div><\/a>\n\n\n\n<p>Although the US did not ratify Unclos, it did sign an agreement in 1994 to amend the deep-seabed mining provisions of the convention, after it successfully negotiated all the changes it wanted. That indicates that they were comfortable with it. Also, under the Vienna Convention on the Law of Treaties, countries that have signed a treaty have an obligation not to undermine its objective and purpose.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>One legal issue lies in whether the US has persistently objected to part XI [which governs deep-sea mining]. Some in the US government would say they did in 1982 and 1983. However, the negotiations and the subsequent signing of the 1994 agreement show they are not in a <a href=\"https:\/\/2001-2009.state.gov\/s\/d\/2007\/92921.htm\">position<\/a> to oppose the provisions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-can-the-us-government-unilaterally-authorise-mining-operations-via-an-executive-order-from-the-president\" style=\"line-height:1.4em !important\">Can the US government unilaterally authorise mining operations via an executive order from the president?<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<a class=\"wp-block-cd-related-news alignright block--related-news loading\" data-post-id=\"60068173\"><div class=\"block--related-news__image\"><\/div><div class=\"block--related-news__content\"><span class=\"block--related-news__heading\">Recommended<\/span><span class=\"block--related-news__title\"><\/span><\/div><\/a>\n\n\n\n<p>In this context, number one, they shouldn\u2019t do anything that undermines the provisions [of the 1994 agreement]. Number two, they are bound by customary international law to abide by Unclos.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>I don\u2019t see the executive order signed by Trump yesterday as authorising mining operations. It essentially tasks a branch of the US government \u2013 Noaa \u2013 to develop an expedited process to review and issue mining exploration licenses and exploitation permits in international waters within 60 days.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The move signals the US intends to pursue mining operations unilaterally. But what Noaa could do under the executive order may send shockwaves through the 170 parties to Unclos, who strongly advocate multilateralism.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-what-are-the-potential-consequences-of-the-us-bypassing-the-un-regime-and-approving-seabed-mining\" style=\"line-height:1.4em !important\">What are the potential consequences of the US bypassing the UN regime and approving seabed mining?<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>A part of the problem is that it creates chaos. It creates uncertainty. I wouldn\u2019t want to go down the lane of thinking about what will happen \u2013 because it could be quite severe. I\u2019m still hoping that the US decides it\u2019s a really bad idea.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Also, under international law, the metals cannot be sold. Let\u2019s use illegal, unreported, and unregulated fishing as an analogy. When a fishing vessel violates fishing regulations, it faces consequences, including not being able to unload its catch in various ports. Its catch also cannot be sold in several countries, like the US or the European Union. Similar things would apply to metals obtained in violation of Unclos. &nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Other countries involved in the mining activities could also act. For example, the deep-sea collection system that The Metal Company used in their recent <a href=\"https:\/\/investors.metals.co\/news-releases\/news-release-details\/metals-company-and-allseas-announce-successful-deep-water-test\">mining<\/a> trial is owned by a Swiss-based offshore contractor, Allseas. Switzerland would be under legal obligations to ensure its nationals do not participate in such activity.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-cd-article-image aligncenter block--article-image block--article-image--article\" itemscope itemtype=\"http:\/\/schema.org\/ImageObject\"><div class=\"block--article-image__column\"><div class=\"hide-expand block--article-image__image\"><img class=\"lazy\" data-src=\"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/Hidden-Gem-TMC_Alamy_2HME4EF.jpg\" data-srcset=\"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/Hidden-Gem-TMC_Alamy_2HME4EF-768x493.jpg 768w, https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/Hidden-Gem-TMC_Alamy_2HME4EF-1024x658.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/Hidden-Gem-TMC_Alamy_2HME4EF.jpg 2560w\" data-sizes=\"(max-width: 600px) 768px, (max-width: 1024px) 1024px, 2560px\" alt=\"mining vessel at sunset\"\/><\/div><div class=\"block--article-image__content\"><div itemprop=\"caption\" class=\"block--article-image__caption\">Mining vessel Hidden Gem, part of the technology The Metals Company wants to use to exploit deep sea metals (Image: Charles M. Vella \/ Sipa US \/ Alamy)<\/div><\/div><\/div><meta itemprop=\"contentUrl\" content=\"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/Hidden-Gem-TMC_Alamy_2HME4EF.jpg\"\/><meta itemprop=\"contentSize\" content=\"3 MB\"\/><meta itemprop=\"height\" content=\"1644\"\/><meta itemprop=\"width\" content=\"2560\"\/><meta itemprop=\"author\"\/><meta itemprop=\"representativeOfPage\" content=\"true\"\/><\/div>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-where-does-this-leave-the-metals-company-s-chances-of-mining-under-the-un-regime\" style=\"line-height:1.4em !important\">Where does this leave The Metals Company\u2019s chances of mining under the UN regime?<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>As far as I can tell, the firm hasn\u2019t decided on whether a mining application will be made under the US legislation, the ISA or both. The CEO of The Metal Company Gerard Barron\u2019s comments to investors explicitly left the possibility open. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>We\u2019re only two months away from 27 June, the date the company <a href=\"https:\/\/investors.metals.co\/news-releases\/news-release-details\/tmc-announces-june-27-2025-submission-date-subsidiary-noris-isa\">said<\/a> they would lodge an application to the ISA for an exploitation contract. We\u2019re clearly getting a lot of disputes, chaos and difficulties around this issue. All of these give a stronger reason for a moratorium or a precautionary pause on mining. So that we can have some years when countries can say: \u201cOkay, well, let\u2019s just take a deep breath and consider the whole matter properly.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Environmental lawyer Duncan Currie discusses fears deep sea miners could bypass a UN agreement and apply to mine under US law<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3906,"featured_media":60079841,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[50039901],"tags":[40027800,537,560],"hashtags":[],"country":[50040710,50040700,50003615],"class_list":["post-60078093","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-ocean","tag-deep-sea-mining","tag-ecosystems","tag-law","country-canada","country-united-states-of-america","country-world-2"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v26.0 (Yoast SEO v26.0) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Q&amp;A: Can Trump really approve mining in international waters? | Dialogue Earth<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Environmental lawyer Duncan Currie discusses fears deep sea miners could bypass a UN agreement and apply to mine under US law\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/ocean\/qa-can-trump-really-approve-mining-in-international-waters\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Q&amp;A: Can Trump really approve mining in international waters?\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Environmental lawyer Duncan Currie discusses fears deep sea miners could bypass a UN agreement and apply to mine under US law\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/ocean\/qa-can-trump-really-approve-mining-in-international-waters\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Dialogue Earth\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2025-04-24T11:57:20+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2025-05-02T16:48:12+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/Hariotta-raleighana_NOAA_Flickr_033f209efe_1200px-v2.jpeg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1200\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"800\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Lam Regina\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/ocean\/qa-can-trump-really-approve-mining-in-international-waters\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/ocean\/qa-can-trump-really-approve-mining-in-international-waters\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Lam Regina\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/#\/schema\/person\/0ff0c0f01c6dda28d21a425ebba1dd4c\"},\"headline\":\"Q&amp;A: Can Trump really approve mining in international waters?\",\"datePublished\":\"2025-04-24T11:57:20+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2025-05-02T16:48:12+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/ocean\/qa-can-trump-really-approve-mining-in-international-waters\/\"},\"wordCount\":1338,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/#organization\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/ocean\/qa-can-trump-really-approve-mining-in-international-waters\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/Hariotta-raleighana_NOAA_Flickr_033f209efe_1200px-v2.jpeg\",\"keywords\":[\"Deep-sea mining\",\"Ecosystems\",\"Law\"],\"articleSection\":[\"Ocean\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/ocean\/qa-can-trump-really-approve-mining-in-international-waters\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/ocean\/qa-can-trump-really-approve-mining-in-international-waters\/\",\"name\":\"Q&amp;A: Can Trump really approve mining in international waters? | Dialogue Earth\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/ocean\/qa-can-trump-really-approve-mining-in-international-waters\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/ocean\/qa-can-trump-really-approve-mining-in-international-waters\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/Hariotta-raleighana_NOAA_Flickr_033f209efe_1200px-v2.jpeg\",\"datePublished\":\"2025-04-24T11:57:20+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2025-05-02T16:48:12+00:00\",\"description\":\"Environmental lawyer Duncan Currie discusses fears deep sea miners could bypass a UN agreement and apply to mine under US law\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/ocean\/qa-can-trump-really-approve-mining-in-international-waters\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/ocean\/qa-can-trump-really-approve-mining-in-international-waters\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/ocean\/qa-can-trump-really-approve-mining-in-international-waters\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/Hariotta-raleighana_NOAA_Flickr_033f209efe_1200px-v2.jpeg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/Hariotta-raleighana_NOAA_Flickr_033f209efe_1200px-v2.jpeg\",\"width\":1200,\"height\":800,\"caption\":\"'\/mnt\/repository\/CruiseData\/EX1711\/Video\/EX1711_DIVE10_20171212\/ProRes\/EX1711_VID_20171212T173000Z_ROVHD.mov'\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/ocean\/qa-can-trump-really-approve-mining-in-international-waters\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Q&amp;A: Can Trump really approve mining in international waters?\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/\",\"name\":\"Dialogue Earth\",\"description\":\"Global climate and environment news\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/#organization\",\"name\":\"\u5bf9\u8bdd\u5730\u7403\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/content\/uploads\/2024\/04\/Dialogue-Earth-Symbol-Logo_Black-Text.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/content\/uploads\/2024\/04\/Dialogue-Earth-Symbol-Logo_Black-Text.png\",\"width\":256,\"height\":256,\"caption\":\"\u5bf9\u8bdd\u5730\u7403\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\"},\"sameAs\":[\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/DialogueEarth_\",\"\",\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/DialogueEarth.English\",\"https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/dialogue.earth\/\",\"https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/company\/dialogueearth\/\"],\"publishingPrinciples\":\"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/about\/\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/#\/schema\/person\/0ff0c0f01c6dda28d21a425ebba1dd4c\",\"name\":\"Lam Regina\",\"description\":\"Regina Lam is an editorial assistant intern at China Dialogue. She is also a freelance journalist based in London.\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/author\/regina-lam\/\",\"sameAs\":[\"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/author\/regina-lam\/\"]}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO Premium plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Q&amp;A: Can Trump really approve mining in international waters? | Dialogue Earth","description":"Environmental lawyer Duncan Currie discusses fears deep sea miners could bypass a UN agreement and apply to mine under US law","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/ocean\/qa-can-trump-really-approve-mining-in-international-waters\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Q&amp;A: Can Trump really approve mining in international waters?","og_description":"Environmental lawyer Duncan Currie discusses fears deep sea miners could bypass a UN agreement and apply to mine under US law","og_url":"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/ocean\/qa-can-trump-really-approve-mining-in-international-waters\/","og_site_name":"Dialogue Earth","article_published_time":"2025-04-24T11:57:20+00:00","article_modified_time":"2025-05-02T16:48:12+00:00","og_image":[{"width":1200,"height":800,"url":"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/Hariotta-raleighana_NOAA_Flickr_033f209efe_1200px-v2.jpeg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Lam Regina","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/ocean\/qa-can-trump-really-approve-mining-in-international-waters\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/ocean\/qa-can-trump-really-approve-mining-in-international-waters\/"},"author":{"name":"Lam Regina","@id":"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/#\/schema\/person\/0ff0c0f01c6dda28d21a425ebba1dd4c"},"headline":"Q&amp;A: Can Trump really approve mining in international waters?","datePublished":"2025-04-24T11:57:20+00:00","dateModified":"2025-05-02T16:48:12+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/ocean\/qa-can-trump-really-approve-mining-in-international-waters\/"},"wordCount":1338,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/#organization"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/ocean\/qa-can-trump-really-approve-mining-in-international-waters\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/Hariotta-raleighana_NOAA_Flickr_033f209efe_1200px-v2.jpeg","keywords":["Deep-sea mining","Ecosystems","Law"],"articleSection":["Ocean"],"inLanguage":"en"},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/ocean\/qa-can-trump-really-approve-mining-in-international-waters\/","url":"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/ocean\/qa-can-trump-really-approve-mining-in-international-waters\/","name":"Q&amp;A: Can Trump really approve mining in international waters? | Dialogue Earth","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/ocean\/qa-can-trump-really-approve-mining-in-international-waters\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/ocean\/qa-can-trump-really-approve-mining-in-international-waters\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/Hariotta-raleighana_NOAA_Flickr_033f209efe_1200px-v2.jpeg","datePublished":"2025-04-24T11:57:20+00:00","dateModified":"2025-05-02T16:48:12+00:00","description":"Environmental lawyer Duncan Currie discusses fears deep sea miners could bypass a UN agreement and apply to mine under US law","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/ocean\/qa-can-trump-really-approve-mining-in-international-waters\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/ocean\/qa-can-trump-really-approve-mining-in-international-waters\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en","@id":"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/ocean\/qa-can-trump-really-approve-mining-in-international-waters\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/Hariotta-raleighana_NOAA_Flickr_033f209efe_1200px-v2.jpeg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/Hariotta-raleighana_NOAA_Flickr_033f209efe_1200px-v2.jpeg","width":1200,"height":800,"caption":"'\/mnt\/repository\/CruiseData\/EX1711\/Video\/EX1711_DIVE10_20171212\/ProRes\/EX1711_VID_20171212T173000Z_ROVHD.mov'"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/ocean\/qa-can-trump-really-approve-mining-in-international-waters\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Q&amp;A: Can Trump really approve mining in international waters?"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/#website","url":"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/","name":"Dialogue Earth","description":"Global climate and environment news","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/#organization","name":"\u5bf9\u8bdd\u5730\u7403","url":"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en","@id":"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/content\/uploads\/2024\/04\/Dialogue-Earth-Symbol-Logo_Black-Text.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/content\/uploads\/2024\/04\/Dialogue-Earth-Symbol-Logo_Black-Text.png","width":256,"height":256,"caption":"\u5bf9\u8bdd\u5730\u7403"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"},"sameAs":["https:\/\/twitter.com\/DialogueEarth_","","https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/DialogueEarth.English","https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/dialogue.earth\/","https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/company\/dialogueearth\/"],"publishingPrinciples":"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/about\/"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/#\/schema\/person\/0ff0c0f01c6dda28d21a425ebba1dd4c","name":"Lam Regina","description":"Regina Lam is an editorial assistant intern at China Dialogue. She is also a freelance journalist based in London.","url":"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/author\/regina-lam\/","sameAs":["https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/author\/regina-lam\/"]}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/60078093","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3906"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=60078093"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/60078093\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":60079381,"href":"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/60078093\/revisions\/60079381"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/60079841"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=60078093"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=60078093"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=60078093"},{"taxonomy":"hashtags","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/hashtags?post=60078093"},{"taxonomy":"country","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/country?post=60078093"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}