Negotiator's toolkit

Environmental externalities, underwater cultural heritage, test mining, regional environmental management plans, environmental compensation fund, royalties, safety measures… The list goes on. New elements continue to be added to the already complex and interlinked group of elements that need to be

Delegates continued work on the development of exploitation regulations for seabed mining, following a roadmap adopted in July 2023. However, regulating commercial exploitation of deep-sea minerals is no easy task, and there is no real indicator of progress for assessing

The meeting is expected to clarify possible scenarios given the rapid approach of the deadline triggered by Nauru’s request to apply for approval of a deep-sea mineral exploitation plan.

The pressure is on as negotiators face impending deadlines for whether to adopt regulations, rules, and procedures to move forward with commercial exploitation of the deep sea or whether to call for a moratorium or precautionary pause on deep sea

As environmental concerns continue to grow, the prospect of extracting mineral resources from the deep seabed has generated quite a debate, which permeated the work of the Assembly.

Following two weeks of high-level discussions and negotiations, delegates adopted 38 decisions to improve drought resilience, reduce land degradation, invest in land restoration efforts, and improve synergies with the climate change and biodiversity conventions.