ISA: Monaco reaffirms its opposition to deep seabed mining

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The 28^th session of the International Seabed Authority (ISA) was held from 10 to 28 July 2023 in Kingston, Jamaica with a representative of the Principality of Monaco in attendance.

The ISA* is one of three bodies established by the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea of 1982. It is the institution tasked with the administration of deep seabed resources.

Talks at the 28^th session focused on the development of draft regulations on the use of deep seabed mineral resources.  Despite the willingness of certain countries to speed up the process, several delegations expressed concern over the potential approval of a work plan for the use of these resources in the absence of robust regulations and necessary environmental safeguards.

The Principality stated that no work plan could be approved without a clear regulatory framework based on reliable scientific data. Monaco also declared that it defended this position independently of any specific terminology or potentially ambiguous linguistic nuances.

The ISA will need to continue its work on this very sensitive issue at future sessions.

* All States Parties to the 1982 Convention, including Monaco, are ipso facto members of the Authority. In total, there are currently 169 members (168 States plus the European Union).

Monaco was among the first to join the “Call for the Deep” coalition of States (Brazil, Canada, Chile, Costa Rica, Dominican Republic, Micronesia, Finland, France, Germany, Panama, Portugal, New Zealand, Switzerland and Vanuatu) for the protection of the deep seabed. The coalition indicates that a precautionary approach should be taken to devising a way forward in deep seabed mining.