Fiji joins Alliance of Countries for a Deep Sea Mining Moratorium

Mechanism

On 29 June 2022, at the United Nations Ocean Conference in Lisbon, Prime Minister Frank Bainimarama formally committed Fiji to the Alliance of Countries for a Deep Sea Mining Moratorium. The Alliance — which at Lisbon included Fiji, Palau, Federated States of Micronesia, and Samoa — calls for a precautionary halt to commercial seabed-mining operations pending: (i) finalisation of the ISA mining code, (ii) comprehensive scientific baseline surveys of EEZ seabed ecosystems, and (iii) assessment of cumulative environmental impact from sediment plumes and deep-water fauna disturbance.

Fiji's International Seabed Minerals Management Act 2013 (ISMA 2013) provides the domestic statutory framework for licensing seabed-minerals exploration and exploitation in Fiji's EEZ. Fiji's moratorium commitment means that the Act will not be operationalised for commercial licensing until the ISA mining code is finalised. As of May 2026, 29 of 33 regulatory elements of the ISA mining code had been resolved, with environmental-impact standards and environmental-compensation mechanisms still under negotiation.

Following the December 2022 change of government, Prime Minister Sitiveni Rabuka confirmed continuity of the moratorium position in April 2024 ("Fiji is not involved in any discussions at this moment regarding deep-sea mining") and again in February 2025. At the ISA Pacific SIDS Regional Workshop held at the Pacific Islands Forum Secretariat, Suva, 19–21 May 2026, Minister for Lands and Mineral Resources Filimoni Vosarogo stated: "Because Fiji is closely aligned with the ISA, we do not want our domestic law to move ahead of international instruments and guidance."

Downstream implications

• Fiji's EEZ (approximately 1.3 million km²) overlaps the Western Pacific polymetallic-nodule

province containing cobalt, nickel, copper, and manganese at depths of 4,500–5,300 m; Fiji's non-licensing posture closes this resource to near-term commercial extraction.

• The Pacific precautionary bloc (Fiji, Palau, FSM, Samoa, Vanuatu) collectively represents

one of the largest concentrations of EEZ seabed-minerals resources globally; combined moratorium positions structurally constrain non-terrestrial cobalt/nickel/manganese supply through to ISA code finalisation.

• The Metals Company (TMC) and other seabed-mining startups operating under Nauru-sponsored

and Tonga-sponsored ISA exploration contracts are not directly in Fiji's EEZ, but Fiji's moratorium membership strengthens the diplomatic case at ISA for a precautionary approach to area-based licensing and stricter environmental standards.

• A moratorium-aligned ISA outcome would redirect cobalt/nickel/manganese capital formation

exclusively toward terrestrial mining (DRC, Indonesia, Philippines, New Caledonia), supporting the critical-minerals supply-chain rebalancing thesis underpinning the global CRM strategy cluster.

Open questions

• Whether Fiji will activate ISMA 2013 licensing after ISA code finalisation or legislate

to maintain the moratorium indefinitely.

• Whether the onshore mining-licence overhaul (Mining Act + Quarry Act review underway 2026)

will alter Fiji's domestic resource-governance stance.

• Whether the Pacific precautionary bloc can achieve a binding ISA provision rather than

a voluntary moratorium before commercial-scale licence applications are submitted.