A regional deep-sea minerals treaty for the Pacific Islands?

Abstract

The various countries that comprise the Pacific Islands region share some common characteristics. These include a keen interest to generate new national industry and revenue, large expanses of seabed within national jurisdiction containing mineral deposits of potential commercial interest, and governance challenges arising from limited human and technical capacities. In recent years several Pacific Island Governments have taken positive steps to introduce new policies and laws to enable and regulate exploratory seabed mineral activities by third parties within national jurisdiction. These laws aim to protect the nations' best interests, by seeking sustainable national benefit, and avoiding adverse social, environmental or economic impacts. Current regional initiatives have led to a degree of harmonisation and consistency between countries in their seabed mineral governance frameworks. This paper envisages how these national measures could be more widely replicated and extended at a regional level, for example by the means of a regional treaty and a regional seabed mineral regulator. The author proposes that greater regional coordination and information-sharing is likely to lead to higher regulatory standards, more efficiently and effectively enforced.