“The abyss is not for sale, and the high seas belong to no one,” declared Olivier Poivre d’Arvor, France’s Ambassador for Maritime Issues, in response to former U.S. President Donald Trump’s recent decree authorizing deep-sea mineral extraction in international waters.
“No one has the right to destroy the oceans, especially in areas over which they hold no territorial rights. This is the strict application of international law,” said Poivre d’Arvor during an online press conference. He reaffirmed the stance of France’s Minister for Ecological Transition, Agnès Pannier-Runacher.
Poivre d’Arvor criticized the U.S. for bypassing the International Seabed Authority (ISA), which oversees mineral resource activities in areas beyond national jurisdiction. “By calling for exploitation licenses outside of national waters and beyond the ISA framework, the United States violates the principle of non-appropriation of the high seas,” he stated.
The Deep Sea: Sanctuary, Not Eldorado
Trump’s executive order, signed on Thursday, directly challenges the authority of the ISA—an organization to which the United States does not belong. “The abyss is not for sale,” Poivre d’Arvor repeated. “It is not an Eldorado; it is first and foremost a sanctuary.” He emphasized that, under international law, the deep seabed is considered the common heritage of humankind.
France, which advocates for a ban on deep-sea mining, has brought together a coalition of 32 countries supporting a moratorium. In anticipation of the upcoming UN Ocean Conference in Nice (June 8–13), President Emmanuel Macron commissioned a scientific report on seabed mining, which was released on Monday.
Scientific Warning: “Urgent to Wait”
The report, co-authored by around twenty scientists, recommends a moratorium of at least 10 to 15 years—or until adequate scientific knowledge is available to make informed decisions. “It is urgent to wait, not to rush into action,” said Bruno David, the lead author and former president of the French National Museum of Natural History.
The report warns that deep-sea mining would generate “massive sediment plumes extending over tens to hundreds of square kilometers,” potentially dispersing heavy metals and impacting the entire marine food chain.
“Science must guide our decisions,” stressed David, criticizing the U.S. administration’s dismissal of scientific data. “Rejecting science seems to have become a new sport across the Atlantic. Some would be better off sticking to golf than playing this dangerous game,” he concluded.
Source: outremers360
