The International Seabed Authority, based in Jamaica, launched a two-week conference on the issue Monday, a day after it missed a deadline to approve a set of rules and regulations to govern deep sea mining in international waters.“We have a lot of work ahead of us,” said Juan Jose Gonzalez, the authority’s council president.
Most of the current exploration is focused in the Clarion-Clipperton Fracture Zone, which covers 1.7 million square miles between Hawaii and Mexico. It is occurring at depths ranging from 13,000 to 19,000 feet .Article content “It is critical that the international community recognize its collective responsibility to safeguard the health and integrity of our shared global ocean for future generations,” the government said in a statement.
“There’s really no appetite to vote,” said Duncan Currie, an international and environmental lawyer and legal adviser to the Deep Sea Conservation Coalition, a Netherlands-based alliance of environmental groups.