Deep-Sea Mining: The New Frontier of Great Power Competition

Abstract

Abstract: The article examines deep-sea mining as a new geopolitical and economic front amid surging demand for critical minerals driven by the energy transition and the fourth industrial revolution. Within the legal framework of UNCLOS and the International Seabed Authority (ISA), exploration and prospective exploitation are concentrated in the Clarion - Clipperton Zone in the Pacific, where great powers and middle powers compete for access to polymetallic nodules, massive sulphides and cobalt‑rich crusts. The article highlights China’s leading position in licensing, technological capability and network of agreements with Pacific island states, while the United States is recalibrating its policy, using executive orders and private companies to narrow the gap. Russia, South Korea, Japan and India emerge as important actors that pursue resource security and regional influence through technological investment and active participation in ISA processes. The impacts of deep‑sea mining are assessed along two dimensions: on different groups of states, particularly small island developing states and developing economies, and on the evolving pattern of great power competition. The article argues for a more inclusive, science‑based regime for seabed governance that reconciles strategic, economic and environmental interests and ensures a fair distribution of benefits.