College of the Atlantic, Bar Harbor, Maine, USA.
Minerals, Materials and Society Program, Department of Geography and Spatial Sciences, Pearson Hall, University of Delaware, Newark, Delaware, USA.
Integr Environ Assess Manag. 2022 May;18(3):634-654. doi: 10.1002/ieam.4554. Epub 2021 Dec 16.
Infrastructure supporting the transition of human societies from fossil fuels to renewable energy will require hundreds of millions of tons of metals. Polymetallic nodules on the abyssal seabed of the Clarion-Clipperton Zone (CCZ), eastern North Pacific Ocean, could provide them. We focus on ethical considerations and opportunities available to the novel CCZ nodule-collection industry, integrating robust science with strong pillars of social and environmental responsibility. Ethical considerations include harm to sea life and recovery time, but also the value of human life, indigenous rights, rights of nature, animal rights, intrinsic values, and intangible ecosystem services. A "planetary perspective" considers the biosphere, hydrosphere, and atmosphere, extends beyond mineral extraction to a life-cycle view of impacts, and includes local, national, and global impacts and stakeholders. Stakeholders include direct nodule-collection actors, ocean conservationists, companies, communities, interest groups, nations, and citizens globally, plus counterfactual stakeholders involved with or affected by intensification of terrestrial mining if ocean metals are not used. Nodule collection would harm species and portions of ecosystems, but could have lower life-cycle impacts than terrestrial mining expansion, especially if nodule-metal producers explicitly design for it and stakeholders hold them accountable. Participants across the value chain can elevate the role of ethics in strategic objective setting, engineering design optimization, commitments to stakeholders, democratization of governance, and fostering of circular economies. The International Seabed Authority is called to establish equitable and transparent distribution of royalties and gains, and continue engaging scientists, economists, and experts from all spheres in optimizing deep-sea mineral extraction for humans and nature. Nodule collection presents a unique opportunity for an ambitious reset of ecological norms in a nascent industry. Embracing ethical opportunities can set an example for industrial-scale activities on land and sea, accelerate environmental gains through environmental competition with land ores, and hasten civilization's progress toward a sustainable future. Integr Environ Assess Manag 2022;18:634-654. © 2021 The Authors. Integrated Environmental Assessment and Management published by Wiley Periodicals LLC on behalf of Society of Environmental Toxicology & Chemistry (SETAC).
支持人类社会从化石燃料向可再生能源过渡的基础设施将需要数亿吨金属。东太平洋克拉里昂-克利珀顿区（CCZ）深海海底的多金属结核可能提供这些金属。我们关注的是新型 CCZ 结核采集产业的伦理考虑因素和现有机会，将强有力的科学与社会和环境责任的坚实支柱相结合。伦理考虑因素包括对海洋生物和恢复时间的危害，但也包括人类生命、土著权利、自然权利、动物权利、内在价值和无形生态系统服务的价值。“行星视角”考虑了生物圈、水圈和大气圈，超越了矿产开采，着眼于整个生命周期的影响，并包括地方、国家和全球的影响和利益相关者。利益相关者包括直接的结核采集者、海洋保护主义者、公司、社区、利益集团、国家和全球公民，以及如果不使用海洋金属而与陆地采矿强化相关或受其影响的假想利益相关者。结核采集将危害物种和部分生态系统，但生命周期的影响可能低于陆地采矿扩张，特别是如果结核金属生产者明确为此进行设计，并且利益相关者追究他们的责任。价值链中的参与者可以提升道德在战略目标设定、工程设计优化、对利益相关者的承诺、治理民主化和循环经济培育中的作用。国际海底管理局被要求建立公平透明的特许权使用费和收益分配，并继续让科学家、经济学家和来自各个领域的专家参与进来，为人类和自然优化深海矿产开采。结核采集为新兴产业中生态规范的雄心勃勃重置提供了独特的机会。把握道德机遇可以为陆地和海洋上的工业规模活动树立榜样，通过与陆地矿石的环境竞争来加速环境收益，并加速文明向可持续未来迈进。《综合环境评估与管理》2022 年；18：634-654。©2021 作者。综合环境评估与管理由 Wiley 期刊有限责任公司代表环境毒理与化学学会（SETAC）出版。
