Abstract

Global warming is the biggest problem that humanity is facing. Most climate scientists agree on how human intervention has affected the atmospheric change in the past two centuries, leading to a rise in global temperature by 1 °C. This is mainly due to the high production of CO2 by the energy sector, which is why it is necessary to promote accelerated growth in the renewable energy market. However, there is a shortage of critical materials in the Earth's crust, wherein China (the largest producer) has a monopolistic position in the rare earth market. This situation restricts the growth of the cleaner energies market and, in turn, generates significant political conflicts between the world's great powers. The vast mineral wealth that is available in the seabed might provide several critical metals, highlighting a large concentration of rare earth, which makes deep-sea mining a great alternative to satisfy the demand for these resources. However, the environmental damage in the marine ecosystem due to large submarine mining is still unknown, leaving us a critical question: Is large submarine mining a viable solution to the problems of market and environmental issues?