Seabed Mining

Hi,

I have done some research about deep sea mining and its regulations. Here is the link to the results that can be beneficial to you. Details are also below.

A healthy deep ocean is essential for the well-being of both humans and the environment. It serves as a carbon sink, storing large amount of human-generated carbon dioxide, and is home to a vast array of unique and diverse species, many of which have yet to be identified. Currently, it is one of the few places on Earth largely free from human pressure, but that could soon change with the commencement of a new extractive industry known as deep-seabed mining (DSM).

In international waters, the International Seabed Authority (ISA) governs DSM, as required by the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS), regulating any mining activities and overseeing the effective protection of the marine environment from harmful effects. The ISA is also tasked with ensuring that DSM in the deep sea is undertaken in accordance with the common heritage of humankind principle, including equitable sharing of financial benefits.

Thus far, the ISA has created and adopted regulations to govern exploration, awarded 31 exploration contracts and is in the process of negotiating exploitation regulations that would govern any future commercial mining activities.

However, in 2021, the Republic of Nauru notified the ISA of its intent to sponsor a DSM application by a private mining company, triggering a time-limited provision in UNCLOS that requires the ISA to either complete development of the regulations to enable DSM in two years or consider mining proposals without internationally agreed-upon regulations in place. As a result, the prospects of DSM commencing soon—in the absence of sufficiently precautionary regulations—has become a distinct reality.

Since the triggering of this provision, more than 20 member States of the ISA have publicly called for a moratorium, precautionary pause or complete ban on DSM in the international seabed, with a growing number of countries indicating that they will not approve of any mining without a completed and adopted regulatory framework. Proponents of DSM, on the other hand, have questioned the very legality of such a pause or moratorium and whether it is consistent with UNCLOS.

Link to the content and author:

https://www.pewtrusts.org/en/research-and-analysis/fact-sheets/2023/06/seabed-mining-moratorium-is-legally-required-by-un-treaty-legal-experts-find#:~:text=In%20international%20waters%2C%20the%20International,marine%20environment%20from%20harmful%20effects.