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We interviewed Dr. Lisa Levin to explore her opinions about deep sea and land mining. She has over 40 years of experience working around the continental margins and studying deep sea ecosystems. She co-founded the Deep Ocean Stewardship Initiative, which helps bring science into international policy discussions, including at the International Seabed Authority. She’s been part of “a variety of mining workshops, panels, and papers,” and continues to speak up about protecting the deep ocean.

Dr. Levin doesn’t think we need deep sea mining. “We don’t need deep sea mining because we don’t have the demand for cobalt and nickel,” she said. Battery makers are already moving in a new direction—“BYD is changing their methods,” and “Tesla no longer uses cobalt and nickel.” Instead of mining more, she believes we should “focus on recycling existing batteries,” especially to get materials like nickel, cobalt, manganese, and copper. But even then, “we won’t need a large amount of these materials.”

She also pointed out that deep sea mining isn’t as clean as it seems. “If a mine was mined for 1 year, it would be 2.5 times the size of the biggest mine in Germany.”Additionally, “ships that sit on the surface are releasing CO2,” so the process doesn’t actually cut greenhouse gas emissions. Getting to remote locations and processing the materials just adds more pollution.

She believes we should “stick with land mining.” The deep sea is still mostly unknown. “We don’t have the knowledge to avoid damage,” and “we don’t know the deep sea ecosystems enough or what’s at stake.” Starting deep sea mining won’t stop land mining—it’ll just add more harm. “Land mining will not stop if deep sea mining begins.”

She added that new land mines “could be completely underground,” which would reduce their surface impact. She acknowledged serious issues like “child labor in the Democratic Republic of Congo,” but still believes that “the footprint of land mining is tiny compared to the footprint of deep sea mining.”

She expressed concerns about a new executive order that aims to “accelerate deep sea mining in national waters and international waters.” She said it “violates the law of the sea” when it comes to international waters and “throws up roadblocks” for the supply and processing chains. So far, only one company—Impossible Metals—has proposed a project in U.S. waters, using AI cameras for mining.

“There’s nothing we can do to mitigate damage” from deep sea mining, she warned. If we mine the deep, “we lose what those ecosystems are providing.” Even if some areas are left untouched, “restoration is not a feasible solution—you can’t restore the deep sea.” Instead, she supports “more recycling and reuse, redesign of products, and alternative technologies that don’t use deep sea materials."