Two weeks of negotiations at the International Seabed Authority have concluded with the regulatory framework for deep-sea mining no closer to completion and the scientific, legal and governance arguments for a moratorium stronger than when talks began.
The ISA Council session – which ended this week – was marked by a series of developments that conservation groups and legal observers say collectively ‘point in one direction’. The ISA’s own Legal and Technical Commission highlighted significant gaps in the science and baseline data needed to establish reliable environmental thresholds for deep-sea mining.
Key components of the wider regulatory framework – including standards and guidelines, benefit-sharing regulations and other governance measures – remain either unfinished or yet to be substantially negotiated.
The Mining Code itself continues to be negotiated, with no resolution in sight.
The session took place against the backdrop of a significant legal development. An international tribunal had just ruled against a mining contractor that had tried to block the ISA’s own investigation into whether it had broken the rules – meaning that investigation can now proceed.
During the session, the Council voted to extend the exploration contract of Nauru Ocean Resources Inc, but governments were careful to stress that renewing the contract was ‘not a sign of approval’ for how the company had behaved, and that the outcome of the investigation remained entirely open.
Nauru Ocean Resources Inc is publicly linked to The Metals Company, a US firm that has been attempting to mine the international seabed without going through the ISA process – an act that is widely considered to be illegal under international law.
That attempt to sidestep the system was a recurring concern throughout the Council session, with governments warning that allowing companies to bypass the ISA framework would undermine one of the foundational principles of international ocean law: that the deep seabed, and its resources, belong to all of humanity.
