Oceans
‘Ocean Is at Stake’ at International Seabed Authority Negotiations Over Deep-Sea Mining
This week in Kingston, Jamaica, the United Nations’ International Seabed Authority (ISA) is conducting a second week of negotiations that could shape the future of the deep ocean. In 2021, the Pacific nation of Nauru triggered something called the two-year rule, which gives the ISA until July 9 to establish regulations to govern the controversial practice of deep-sea mining. This 28th session, which launched March 16 and concludes Friday, is the body’s penultimate meeting before that deadline. “The ocean is at stake,” University of California, Santa Barbara deep-sea biologist Dr. Diva Amon, who is representing the Deep Ocean Stewardship Initiative in Kingston, told EcoWatch. But beyond the looming threat of commercial mining, something else was different about these negotiations. Influential civil society groups including Greenpeace, the Deep Sea Conservation Coalition, the Pew Charitable Trusts and […]
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