Indigenous advocates who have been fighting for their rights to be acknowledged in global regulations for seabed mining are bracing for the outcome of this week’s gathering of the International Seabed Authority in Jamaica, where representatives from three dozen countries are expected to discuss finalizing mining rules by the end of this year.
The International Seabed Authority has spent a decade trying to formulate regulations to govern where, how, and to what extent corporations can extract minerals from the seabed in international waters, with input from governments, industry players, Indigenous peoples, and environmental advocates. Minerals on the seafloor formed over millions of years, and they include substances like cobalt and manganese that are used to make batteries for electric vehicles, defense technologies in submarines, and fighter aircraft. Leticia Carvalho, the secretary-general of the ISA, said last week that she wants to finalize global rules governing seabed mining by the end of this year, a reversal of her previous position that the regulations could take several years to finalize,... Read more
