The Anglo-Saxon multinational is seeking an exploitation permit, in accordance with the United States’ national mining regulations from the 1980s, which constitutes “another of the company’s pathetic stratagems” and “an insult to multilateralism,” the environmentalists stated in the statement.

According to the source, the initiative demonstrates that a global moratorium on ocean mining operations “is more necessary than ever,” considering the climate catastrophe.

“The Metals Company (TMC) is desperate and is now encouraging a violation of customary international law by announcing its intention to exploit the international seabed through the United States Deepwater Hard Mineral Resources Act,” the statement reads.

The multinational has been lobbying the International Seabed Authority for years to try to force governments to allow mining in international spaces, humanity’s common heritage.

Having failed in that attempt, “this reckless announcement is a slap in the face to international cooperation,” Greenpeace stated.

The TMC has never cared about economic prosperity or jobs for the inhabitants of Nauru, Kiribati, or Tonga, nor about addressing the climate crisis; it has only cared about one thing: “lining its pockets with money earned at the expense of our Pacific lifeblood: the ocean,” the organization emphasized.

To curb the industry’s appetites, governments should move toward enacting a moratorium, the complainants advised, noting that the International Seabed Authority was created at the request of the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea.

After investing “more than $500 million” over the past 10 years to explore and evaluate coveted metal resources in various areas of the Pacific high seas, “we are ready” for the industrial phase, TMC CEO Gerard Barron declared Thursday.

“We have done everything possible to minimize the environmental impact,” he said, rejecting accusations from scientists and environmental organizations about threats to marine ecosystems.

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