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The Climate Briefing: The geopolitics of deep-sea mining

Chatham House | 2026-02-22 | energy

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English Summary

The podcast argues that deep-sea mining is becoming a major geopolitical issue as governments race to secure critical minerals for energy transition and strategic industries. Drawing on expert analysis from Carnegie and CSIS, it frames seabed resource competition as driven by supply-chain security, industrial policy, and power politics at sea rather than climate needs alone. The discussion suggests that weak or contested international governance could sharpen interstate rivalry while environmental uncertainty increases political risk. The policy implication is to pair any resource-access strategy with stronger multilateral rules, precautionary environmental standards, and broader diversification of critical-mineral sources.

中文摘要

該播客主張，隨著各國政府競相確保能源轉型與戰略產業所需的關鍵礦物，深海採礦正成為重大的地緣政治議題。基於卡內基與戰略與國際研究中心（CSIS）專家的分析，節目指出，海床資源競爭的驅動因素更在於供應鏈安全、產業政策與海上權力政治，而不僅是氣候需求。討論認為，若國際治理薄弱或存在爭議，國家間競爭可能加劇；同時，環境不確定性也會提高政治風險。其政策意涵是，任何資源取得策略都應搭配更強而有力的多邊規則、審慎的環境標準，以及更廣泛的關鍵礦物來源多元化。

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