The E-Waste Column no. 209

Jul 30

3 min read

Following from yesterday’s column, we are looking at the role the Dutch, Swiss, and Canadian governments may play in the planned deep-sea mining in American Samoa.

🌱 Which companies are currently planning mining?

Shortly after Trump signed the executive order on “Unleashing America’s Offshore Critical Minerals and Resources”, The Metals Company applied for permits from the U.S. administration “to explore and commercially mine the seabed floor in the Pacific Ocean between Mexico and Hawaii”. In this context, the offshore company, Allseas is now also planning to operate deep-sea mining machinery for The Metals Company’s planned operations.

🌱 Why are the Dutch and Swiss governments expected to take action?

Given the current plans of Allseas, which is registered in Switzerland and the Netherlands, both the Dutch and the Swiss government are being put under pressure to take measures. A recent legal opinion, commissioned by Greenpeace in the Netherlands to examine the legality of the planned actions, concluded that if Allseas were to engage in operating mining machinery on the international seabed under a unilateral U.S. authorization, this would directly violate the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS). According to Professor André Nollkaemper of the University of Amsterdam who authored the opinion, “the binding May 2026 Contract for Development Work and Commercial Production between Allseas and [The Metals Company] includes activities prohibited under international law”. Nollkaemper says that countries who are a party to UNCLOS have a responsibility “to ensure that companies under their jurisdiction do not engage in deep sea mining outside the internationally agreed framework”. This would effectively also mean that both the Dutch and Swiss government have a legal obligation to intervene in the planned deep-sea mining around American Samoa.

🌱 Why may the Canadian government need to take action?

The U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration deemed one of the deep-sea mining permits of The Metals Company, which is headquartered in Vancouver, to be “in full compliance” in late April 2026 and certified another mining application by the company in May 2026. In response, The Metals Company said that it expects to start commissioning its mining system in late 2026, after receiving the final approval from the Trump administration. This “put[s] Canada in a very tricky position”, as Canada is one of the 43 countries currently calling for a moratorium on deep-sea mining and, unlike the U.S., it is also a party to UNCLOS. This effectively means that – similar to the Dutch and Swiss governments – the Canadian government has an obligation to take measures to prevent deep-sea mining on the international seabed.

🌱 What concrete obligations are there for those involved?

UNCLOS treats the international seabed as “the common heritage of humankind” and protects it from unilateral exploitation. This also means that if The Metals Company and Allseas wanted to comply with international law, they would need an authorization from the international community to operate deep-sea mining machines on the international seabed. While countries that are parties to UNCLOS are said to have an obligation to uphold international law and protect the deep-sea, it is however still unclear what this means for governments on a practical level and what steps they would concretely need to take to prevent unauthorized deep-sea mining on the international seabed.

💡 Next week’s column will look at the outcomes of the 31st Annual Session of the International Seabed Authority – so stay tuned.