A wealth of resources lies beneath international waters, including cobalt, copper, manganese and other minerals used to power smart phones and other technology. Safeguarding “the common heritage of mankind,” as the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea terms this vast store, is a regulatory body called the International Seabed Authority, or ISA.
A quarter-century after its launch, the Kingston, Jamaica-based organization is being pressured to finalize rules that will allow companies to start unearthing the minerals. Scientists, lawmakers, environmentalists and other experts warn that rushing this complicated process could lead to irreparable damage to some of the world’s largest ecosystems.
At the end of June, Nauru, a small island nation in the Pacific, triggered what’s known as the “two-year clause” — a crucial provision in the authority’s founding legislation — giving countries the power to demand that the processing of mining permits begin within two years.
“We’re already seeing warnings from scientists that deep-sea mining risks inevitable and irreversible harm,” said Louisa Casson, a senior political strategist at GreenPeace International. “We know that our oceans are already in a state of crisis.”
During a September World Conservation Congress held by the International Union for the Conservation of Nature, a public-private membership organization, 81 of 127 governments and almost 600 nonprofit groups voted in favor of halting deep-sea mining activity...
Read Full Story: https://www.passblue.com/2021/09/29/pressure-builds-to-mine-international-waters-amid-questions-about-ecosystems-and-profit-sharing/
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