Sustainable management of deep sea mineral activities: a case study of the development of national regulatory frameworks for the Republic of the Marshall Islands

Abstract

The Republic of the Marshall Islands (RMI) is a Freely Associated State of the United States of America (USA) of which more than sixty percent of the country's GDP is provided through the Compact of Free Association Agreement. The Compact grant assistance was provided with the aim to assist in the development of the RMI's economy, and establishes the Compact Trust Fund (CTF) for long-term budgetary self-reliance for the RMI Government. Base on the CTF's performance to date, it is anticipated that there would be a financial gap that may be difficult to fill given the limited economic base of the RMI. It is in this context that the RMI Government sees the sustainable development of the deep sea minerals (DSM) industry as the opportunity to bring substantial income and benefits to strengthening national efforts to achieve greater socio-economic self-reliance. However, this will only be possible if proper regulatory frameworks are in place to manage health, social and environmental risk; protect and preserve the marine environment as well as other legitimate users. This determination should allow the RMI to maximize the potentiality of the ‘Blue economy’ while meeting the targets assigned through the recently adopted Sustainable Development Goals.