Secretary-General Micael Lodge for the Economist | 2 April 2019
Deep sea mineral exploration is one of the most tightly regulated activities in the ocean. Under international law, exploration, as distinct from marine scientific research (which is open to all States), may only be undertaken under a contract with the International Seabed Authority (ISA), an intergovernmental organization based in Jamaica and established by the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS).
UNCLOS – the ‘constitution for the oceans’ – took the important step of setting aside the deep seabed beyond national jurisdiction and its mineral resources as the ‘common heritage of mankind’. It gave the ISA the exclusive mandate to manage deep sea mineral resources for the benefit of mankind. As a result, the deep-sea mining regime in UNCLOS is the most innovative legal regime ever designed by humankind for the equitable and sustainable use of natural resources.
Read the full article, here: Regulating deep sea mining.
