Deep sea mining just landed a speaking slot at one of journalism's biggest climate events. On September 23, The New York Times puts Gerard Barron, CEO of The Metals Company, on stage at Climate Forward 2026, pitching Pacific seabed nodules as a climate solution. But TMC's U.S. permitting path through NOAA skips the process most nations use, multiple countries have objected, and industry watchers say TMC's own messaging has drifted from climate toward China-competition framing. A speaking slot isn't a scientific finding. This story asks what evidence actually backs the claim.
You've probably assumed a marine protected area or national conservation strategy takes a senior title first. Marianne Teoh's career argues otherwise. She started with fieldwork across London, Indonesia, and Malta, then mangrove carbon research in Madagascar, before helping a small Cambodian nonprofit build the country's first multiple-use marine protected area. That led to Fauna & Flora International and later the UK's Blue Belt Programme, including two months at sea aboard the RRS Discovery. Her own words: "It's about working with people, for nature." If you've been waiting for a title to start local ocean work, her path argues against waiting.
Finally, you've probably treated core U.S. fisheries protections as settled law only Congress can touch. NOAA's new "operational roadmap" puts those standards up for reinterpretation, no new legislation required. It would open four Pacific marine monuments, over 1.1 million square miles, to expanded fishing, and shelve gear rules meant to protect the last 350 North Atlantic right whales. Scientists call it "a sharp turn away from science." It's the same NOAA clearing the deep-sea mining pathway from this episode's first story. Watch agency roadmaps, not just laws, that's where real change happens.
Takeaways:
Gerard Barron, CEO of The Metals Company, is a confirmed Climate Forward 2026 interviewee on September 23, per NYT's own press release.
TMC's U.S. seabed mining permits route through NOAA, bypassing the International Seabed Authority process most nations use.
Marianne Teoh helped build Cambodia's first multiple-use marine protected area from fieldwork, later leading FFI's Cambodia programme and the UK's Blue Belt Programme.
NOAA's new roadmap would open four Pacific marine monuments (over 1.1 million square miles) to expanded fishing and shelve right whale gear protections.
Sources: NYT press release; Inside Climate News; Fauna & Flora International and UK Marine Development blog.
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