Kiribati Photo: AFP / Tim Graham
A former Kiribati president and leading climate justice advocate says the deep sea mining industry presents unique challenges for Pacific leaders trying to secure economic resources in the face of the climate crisis.
Anote Tong spoke to RNZ Pacific about the developing industry, which he first encountered in the '80s and '90s as Secretary to Kiribati's Ministry of Natural Resources.
Kiribati, alongside Nauru, Tonga, and Cook Islands have special rights in the Clarion-Clipperton Zone (CCZ), a deep sea mining area in international waters of the Pacific Ocean. The seabed in the zone has polymetallic nodules on it, which contain rare minerals like nickel and cobalt used to make smartphones, electric batteries, and weapons.
Tong said since the '80s, Kiribati's block in the CCZ has representated potential income and development for the nation.
"Given our hunger for revenue, the prospect of digging up these nodules and deriving much needed revenue was a very exciting prospect. But of course, the technology and the economics were not in the right place at that time."
That desire to generate revenue and economic resiliency is not individual to Kiribati. Cook Islands prime minister Mark Brown has pointed to university scholarships and infrastructure improvements like good roads as anticipated benefits of deep-sea mining for his people.
Tong admitted he would find it difficult to reconcile his own beliefs around the climate crisis with the desire to pursue deep sea mining for potential economic benefit for his nation as a leader today.
"It did not come up when I was in office," he said.
"It's just come up more recently, I think, as the prospect of mining in the deep seabed is more [of a] reality.
"And so I'm in a very difficult position because of my own conservation ideas. I'm glad that I'm not there as a leader to make that decision, but I can understand, and I think it's got to be understood, [what] deep seabed mining for countries which have been struggling to balance a budget [means]," Tong said.
However, one regional expert is urging leaders to look beyond simplistic economic choices to help navigate the industry.
Regional expert Maureen Penjueli, an executive committee member of Fiji-based NGO DAWN, is advocating for a comprehensive and evidenced-based approach to the industry in the region.
She warns the path to revenue gains is not straightforward or without risks.
"I think that our countries haven't thought through what I would say [are] productive economic industries. For example… in the case of tuna fisheries and how deep sea mining might affect both the kinds of places where tuna migrates, where tuna is caught [and] the spawning of tuna."
Regional institutions, like the Forum Fisheries Agency or SPREP, should be directed to provide this kind of comprehensive, independent analysis, Penjueli said.
"I think this is some of the basic things that our countries haven't done and still need to do to be able to help shape the kind of economic imperatives that our countries are faced with [like] indebtedness…[and] look at the kinds of resources that they have in the ocean and to make [decisions] that are based on the understanding of how one could affect the other."
Tong also believed robust and up-to-date information for the region's leaders on deep sea mining was critical.
"Because a lot of what's happening today with calls for a full moratorium on the mining of…nodules. I think there's not enough that has been done to assess the science."
He highlighted the need for decision-makers to properly understand the business case behind any deep sea mining engagements.
"If and when deep seabed mining does occur, who will benefit? Will it be the island countries or will the multinational corporations be the ones that would reap the benefit?
"I think the challenge that we need to be addressed is: 'How can we develop systems that…provide the kind the science that is needed in order to make a rational decision?' And if and when it starts happening, [how do we] ensure that the resource owners, the Pacific Island countries that are hoping to reap the benefits, do reap the benefits."
Penjueli said understanding the legal liability and responsibility of Pacific nations as resource owners was critical to that.
"I still think that there is not enough thinking through what does liability look like for country like Kiribati or Nauru or Tonga or Cook Islands…in the event that there is an accident or something goes wrong with a [deep sea mining] contractor.
"I think that's a disservice to our countries, particularly when they're looking at where the next economic revenue stream will come from."
