To engage in deep-sea mining or not to engage: what do full net cost analyses tell us?
U. Rashid Sumaila, Lawrence Alam, Kumara Perumal Pradhoshini, Temitope T. Onifade, S. Karuaihe, Paul Singh, Lisa A. Levin, R. Flint
Abstract
Deep-sea mining (DSM)—the extraction of minerals from the deep seafloor, currently focused intensively on the abyssal plains of the Pacific Ocean—has attracted the attention of mining companies, investors, non-governmental organizations (NGOs), governments, scientists, and the public at large, for good reason 1 . The International Seabed Authority (ISA), an intergovernmental organization established under Article 156 of the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS), is the primary body regulating the exploration and exploitation of minerals found on the international seafloor, termed the Area. These minerals are the common heritage of humankind under UNCLOS, and ISA is entrusted to ensure that mining activities are to be carried out for the benefit of humankind as a whole 2 . As a global platform for states to organize and control activities in the international seabed, ISA’s role in resolving DSM-related issues is very important.