Document of bibliographic reference 332020

BibliographicReference record

Type

Bibliographic resource

Type of document

Journal article

BibLvlCode

AS

Title

Governing deep sea mining in the face of uncertainty

Abstract

Progress towards deep sea mining (DSM) is driven by projected demands for metals and the desire for economic development. DSM remains controversial, with some political leaders calling for a moratorium on DSM pending further research into its impacts. This paper highlights the need for governance architectures that are tailored to DSM. We conceptualise DSM as a type of complex orebody, which encompasses the breadth of environmental, social and governance (ESG) risks that make a mineral source complex. Applying a spatial overlay approach, we show that there are significant data gaps in understanding the ESG risks of DSM. Such uncertainties are compounded by fact that there are no extant commercial DSM projects to function as a precedent – either in terms of project design, or the impacts of design on environment and people. Examining the legislation of the Cook Islands and International Seabed Authority, we demonstrate how regulators are defaulting to terrestrial mining governance architectures, which cannot be meaningfully implemented until a fuller understanding of the ESG risk landscape is developed. We argue that DSM be approached as a distinct extractive industry type, and governed with its unique features in frame.

WebOfScience code

https://www.webofscience.com/wos/woscc/full-record/WOS:000608237000002

Bibliographic citation

Kung, A.; Svobodova, K.; Lèbre, E.; Valenta, R.; Kemp, D.; Owen, J.R. (2021). Governing deep sea mining in the face of uncertainty. J. Environ. Manage. 279: 111593. https://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jenvman.2020.111593

Topic

Marine

Is peer reviewed

true