Trump’s deep-sea mining plan flouts international law | Letter

Your article on Donald Trump’s plan to lease millions of hectares of seabed in the Pacific for deep-sea mining correctly points to the ecological disaster that this could unleash (US territories hit out at Trump plan to explore deep sea mining in the Pacific, 24 August).

However, it does not mention that this plan contravenes international law in the form of Unclos, the UN convention on the law of the sea, which has been ratified by 171 countries and the European Union. The US has not ratified it, but since 1982 has agreed to abide by its rules and procedures.

Under Unclos, no deep-sea mining may be undertaken until an international code on environmental assessments has been agreed and, crucially, an international agreement has been reached on sharing the economic benefits among all countries. These have not been agreed by the International Seabed Authority, the body responsible for drawing them up.

The UK government, among 171 others, should protest vehemently at this reckless and lawless plan.
Guy Standing
Author, The Blue Commons: Rescuing the Economy of the Sea