Seabed Scramble Leaves Global Rulebook Floundering

The ISA's March 2026 Council session closed without finalizing global deep-sea mining rules, as key disputes and US pressure mount

26 Mar 2026

The International Seabed Authority ended the first part of its 31st Council session in Kingston, Jamaica, on March 19, 2026, without a completed Mining Code or a firm timetable for finishing one. Two weeks of negotiations left the most consequential disputes unresolved, and delegates departed having agreed only to continue intersessional work and to produce a revised draft by June 1 for review at the July session.

The contested issues are foundational. Environmental thresholds, benefit-sharing arrangements, inspection mechanisms, and the scope of covered resources all remain unsettled, leaving the international framework that would legally authorize commercial extraction of polymetallic nodules and other critical seabed minerals still incomplete. Without that framework, no company can proceed under ISA authority, a condition that has begun to lose its force as national governments chart their own paths.

The United States moved most visibly in that direction. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration introduced a streamlined domestic licensing pathway in January 2026, and The Metals Company filed an application shortly after covering 65,000 square kilometers of Pacific seabed. ISA Secretary-General Leticia Carvalho has argued that a completed Mining Code represents the clearest check on such unilateral action, ensuring that all actors face enforceable global standards rather than a patchwork of national regimes.

The authority is also managing a parallel crisis. An ongoing investigation is examining whether contractors holding ISA exploration licenses violated their obligations by supporting the US national application. Preliminary findings suggest one contractor may have breached its commitments under UNCLOS, with a full Legal and Technical Commission report expected at the July session.

Support for a precautionary pause has continued to broaden, with roughly 40 nations now backing a moratorium. France, Germany, Brazil, Costa Rica, and a bloc of African states each raised concerns during the March session over scientific uncertainty and governance gaps. The July 2026 session will test whether the ISA can still deliver a credible, enforceable code before multilateral control over the international ocean floor becomes a question of history rather than policy.