First Solar is the first solar manufacturer to commit to exclude minerals mined from deep sea production and supply chains due to environmental concerns.
The agreement, which was negotiated by shareholder advocacy group As You Sow, marks the fifth deep sea mining withdrawl agreement so far in 2025 as investors and activists prepare for the hotly contested AGM season.
As You Sow has subsequently withdrawn a shareholder proposal with the company that addressed the use of deep sea mined minerals.
The news comes amid rumours that the seabed mining industry might get a boost from the Trump administration, even as a growing list of 60 companies and 30 countries have already agreed to a moratorium, according to As You Sow.
The highly controversial practice of deep sea mining remains unregulated due to lack of consensus from the UN’s International Seabed Authority (ISA) on how to mine the seabed safely and sustainably. The ISA has delayed releasing a finalised deep sea mining code several times in past years, though progress is expected to made at some point this year.
Environmentalists warn that deep sea mining, which trawls the deep seabed, indiscriminately destroys the sea life and ecosystems in its path while releasing sediment plumes laced with toxic metals. This causes a cascading effect of biodiversity loss far beyond the mining site, potentially disrupting entire food webs. The mining process also releases long held carbon stores, increasing the speed of climate change and its devastating global impacts.
“First Solar’s commitment leads the way to ensuring that we don’t unwittingly create yet another globally destructive practice,” said Elizabeth Levy, biodiversity program coordinator at As You Sow. “Companies that promote deep sea mining insist that we need deep seabed minerals now to fuel the energy transition; First Solar’s insistence on a precautionary process challenges this false narrative and shows others in the renewable energy industry that we don’t need to exploit the deep sea, potentially irrevocably, for the energy transition to continue.”
Rather than engage in environmentally destructive mining practices, As You Sow argues that companies must prioritise building a circular economy.
The group is currently engaging with companies in key sectors that drive demand for critical minerals found in the deep sea. It has refiled proposals at General Motors and Tesla asking the companies to implement sourcing policies that exclude deep sea mined minerals.
