They want Canada to join a growing numbers of countries including Germany, France, Spain, Chile, Costa Rica, New Zealand and Panama among others, which have asked the United Nations-affiliated International Seabed Authority (ISA) to not rush into enacting mining regulations by July 2023 — a deadline that was set in 2021.
Other nations such as Brazil, the Netherlands, Portugal, Singapore and Switzerland have indicated they would not approve any mining contracts until sufficient environmental protections for the seabed are in place, regardless of the deadline set to adopt regulations.
Google and automakers BMW, Renault, Volkswagen and Volvo have pledged not to use deep-sea metals for the time being, and 704 marine scientists and policy experts from 44 countries have endorsed a petition advocating a pause in seabed mining.
The United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea treaty established the ISA in 1994 to regulate mining in…
