🌍 The world is arguing over deep-sea mining

Hi there Intriguer. You think taking a family photo is tough? Try snapping a pic with a bunch of world leaders. An ill-timed bathroom break reportedly once caused Canada’s prime minister to arrive late for a G20 photo back in 2009. By the time he got there, the Italian and Indonesian leaders had bailed, and a full group photo was never taken.

Today’s briefing is a 5 min read:

• ⛏️ The world is arguing over deep-sea mining.

• 🇧🇷 Brazil’s deforestation slows down.

• ➕ Plus: Meta takes on Twitter, how the papers are covering the upcoming NATO summit, and why a Philippines tourism agency is saying sorry.

1. 🇯🇵 Japan: French President Emmanuel Macron is reportedly blocking a NATO liaison office slated to open in Japan. According to Élysée officials, the outpost risks shifting NATO away from its North Atlantic focus.

2. 🇳🇱 Netherlands: Amsterdam is returning hundreds of artefacts to Indonesia and Sri Lanka that were taken during the colonial period, including a gem-encrusted cannon. Last year, Germany took similar steps by returning 21 ‘Benin Bronzes’ to Nigeria.

3. 🇮🇳 India: A top Indian court has rejected an appeal from opposition leader Rahul Gandhi who was convicted of defamation for comments about the Indian prime minister’s surname. Gandhi has one more avenue of appeal to avoid being disqualified from next year’s elections.

4. 🇨🇦 Canada: Ottawa has announced it’ll stop advertising on Facebook and Instagram following Meta’s decision to remove links to Canadian news sites from the two platforms. The row originated with a new law compelling social media platforms to pay news organisations for stories featuring on their platforms.

5. 🇮🇶 Iraq: Elisabeth Tsurkov, an Israeli-Russian academic who went missing in March, is reportedly being held captive by an Iraqi Shia militia group. Tsurkov was said to be visiting Iraq for research associated with her PhD at Princeton University.

⛏️ International | Deep-sea mining

The world is arguing over deep-sea mining

Diplomats are today (Monday) meeting at the International Seabed Authority (ISA) in Jamaica, debating how to handle deep-sea mining in international waters. The marathon talks will run for three weeks.

Deep-sea mining is a nascent industry that involves ships hoovering potato-sized 'nodules' of metal off the seabed via 4km hoses.

Why are countries debating this industry now?

• 🏝️ In 2021, the tiny nation of Nauru used an arcane rule to oblige the ISA to finalise deep-sea mining regulations within two years, but

• ⏲️ That deadline expired yesterday (Sunday) without agreed rules, so the ISA’s 168 members are now debating what to do next.

And it’s unleashed a fair bit of tension. Supporters of deep-sea mining say:

• ⚡ The sector is essential to supplying the key metals needed for our energy transition, to help address climate change

• 👷 It’s a way for small nations to generate jobs and income, and

• 🇨🇳 It can reduce the world’s over-reliance on China’s metals sector.

Opponents of deep-sea mining say:

• 🐟 It’ll put a vast and little-understood ecosystem at risk

• ⛏️ There are already enough proven metal deposits on land, and

• 🔋 The tech sector is phasing out some of these metals anyway.

Intrigue's take: We don’t envy the delegates tasked with finding a way forward here. The issues are genuinely tricky.

And things are getting heated: Germany has accused the ISA boss of pro-mining bias; others are querying whether a pause (as proposed by Chile) is legal; and there’s talk of referring the whole debate to an international court.

Still, the world has managed to ink treaties for other frontiers, like the 1967 Outer Space Treaty and the 1959 Antarctic Treaty. So, surely we can do it again in the deep blue.

Also worth noting:

• Mining companies need a country sponsor to apply for ISA permits. Nauru works closely with The Metals Company, a Vancouver-based start-up which aims to start deep-sea mining next year.

• Various major companies – like Google, BMW, Volvo, and Samsung – have committed not to use deep-sea metals in their products.

• Norwegian lawmakers moved last month to greenlight deep-sea mining projects in the country’s exclusive economic zone.

📰 How newspapers covered…

This week’s NATO summit

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🇧🇷 Brazil | Environment

Deforestation drops by 34% in first half of 2023

Deforestation in Brazil’s Amazon has declined by a third this year compared to the same period last year, according to government data just released.

This comes after President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva ran for office last year promising to reverse his predecessor’s loosening of several Amazon regulations. And he’s taken a few key steps since winning office, including:

1. 🌳 Seizing illegally-cleared land

2. 💸 Sanctioning those involved in illegal forest clearing, and

3. 🎖️ Using the military to drive out illegal miners in the Yanomami indigenous territory, which is roughly the size of Scotland.

Intrigue’s take: It might be too early to tell how entrenched this trend is: peak deforestation season, which coincides with the dry season, is just getting started. And Brazil’s opposition has already shown a willingness to shoot down Lula’s environmental proposals.

But deforestation fell by 72% during Lula’s first two terms as president (2003-2010). So he’s probably got a few more tricks up his sleeve yet.

Also worth noting:

• The long-awaited EU-Mercosur free trade agreement has been stalled by EU demands for environmental assurances from Brazil.

• Deforestation data is collected using a system of satellites mapping newly-cleared patches of forest.

➕ Extra Intrigue

Your weekly roundup of the world’s more extravagant headlines:

• A Mexican mayor has married a crocodile in a centuries-old ceremony to bring good luck to his people.

• A UK tourist has written an apology letter after carving his name into the Colosseum, stating he didn’t realise the monument was so old.

• A Canadian judge has ruled a ‘thumbs up’ emoji is just as valid as a signature at the bottom of a contract.

• And a Philippines tourism agency has apologised after creating a promotional ad using stock footage of other countries.

🗳️ Poll time!

🧵 Thread of the day

This might look like a tweet, but it’s actually a post on Threads: Meta’s response to the bird app. Meta chief Mark Zuckerberg launched the app last Wednesday and had 30 million users within a day. It took Instagram 15 months – and TikTok, two years – to reach that milestone.

Thursday’s poll: US President Joe Biden recently said he's "anxiously looking forward" to Sweden joining NATO, despite Turkey's current veto. When do you think Stockholm will join?

⬜️⬜️⬜️⬜️⬜️⬜️ ⏰ Soon, less than 2 months (6%)

🟨🟨🟨🟨⬜️⬜️ ⌚ Before the end of the year (40%)

🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩 📅 Sometime in 2024 (48%)

⬜️⬜️⬜️⬜️⬜️⬜️ 🐢 Never (4%)

⬜️⬜️⬜️⬜️⬜️⬜️ ✍️ Other (write in!) (2%)

Your two cents:

• 📅 S.B: “That said, 2024 is a long ways away in geopolitics time … if other more pressing issues come up, it could be sidelined into the further (though likely still relatively near) future.”

• ✍️ C.A: “When President Erdogan is no longer in power and a more moderate leader is in charge. This could be anywhere from years to ?, unless Sweden caves, or there is a drastic, unexpected change.”