Nations Aim to Ink Deep Sea Mining Rules by 2025
upstart writes:
Nations aim to ink deep sea mining rules by 2025:
The International Seabed Authority's member nations on Friday agreed on a two-year roadmap for the adoption of deep sea mining regulations, despite conservationists' calls for a moratorium on mineral extraction they say would avert marine threats.
The ISA, an intergovernmental body tasked with protecting the seabed, and its member states have spent the last decade trying to hash out a mining code for the possible exploitation of nickel, cobalt and copper in deep seabed areas that fall outside of national jurisdictions.
But an agreement has so far been elusive.
[...] Since July 9, after the expiration of a deadline triggered by the small Pacific state of Nauru in 2021, the ISA is obligated to consider-though not necessarily grant-licenses for potentially environmentally devastating mining operations if governments request them.
That would go beyond the status quo, which has so far only seen the body grant exploration permits, as the deep sea mining sector itches to take off in earnest.
"We are no longer in a 'what if' scenario, but rather 'what now'," Nauru's ambassador to the ISA Margo Deiye said during the session, adding that her government planned to soon apply for a mining contract
[...] Next week, the ISA Assembly and its 167 member states will discuss for the first time a "precautionary pause" in mining, supported by about 20 countries, including France, Chile and Brazil.
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