GENEVA - UN experts* today urged States to ensure that any new regulations governing the deep seabed, including a code on mining, are firmly grounded in international law, including international human rights law, and implement the precautionary principle.
"The deep seabed is not an industrial frontier, it is one of the most fragile and least understood ecosystems on Earth, and its protection is a legal obligation under international law and human rights law," the experts said, ahead of the 31st session of the International Seabed Authority (ISA). "Any regulatory framework must reflect States' binding obligation to protect the environment and the climate system and prevent human rights and environmental harm."
The UN experts recalled recent Advisory Opinions of the International Court of Justice (ICJ) and the International Tribunal on the Law of the Sea (ITLOS) which clarify obligations to protect the ocean and the climate system. Under customary international law, States have obligations to protect the marine environment and the climate system that are owed to the international community as a whole - obligations that require stringent due diligence. The Biodiversity Beyond National Jurisdiction (BBNJ) Agreement, which recently came into force, strengthens this legal framework. All these international obligations must be considered and respected by the International Seabed Authority.
The experts also reminded that businesses have obligations and responsibilities with respect to the protection of the environment and the climate system, and their impacts on human rights, in line with the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights.
"The deep seabed hosts most of the ocean's estimated one million species, sustains global biodiversity, and constitutes the planet's largest carbon sink, thus being critical for climate regulation," the experts said.
They warned that deep-sea mining linked with the rush to critical minerals poses serious environmental, climate and human rights risks. Scientific research increasingly suggests that such mining could cause severe and potentially irreversible damage to marine biodiversity, disperse toxic pollutants, destroy seafloor habitats, release stored carbon, and disrupt ocean carbon sequestration processes. In addition, mining operations are highly energy-intensive and contribute to greenhouse gas emissions which aggravate the climate crisis and its adverse human rights impacts.
"Courts have concluded that the precautionary principle must be respected when there is scientific uncertainty about how to effectively prevent significant or irreversible harm to the environment and to human health of present and future generations, as in the case of deep-sea bed mining" the experts said.
Indigenous Peoples, small-scale fishers, and Small Island Developing States rely heavily on healthy marine ecosystems for food security, livelihoods and culture, which increases their vulnerability to potential impacts.
"Threats to the deep sea are threats to human rights," the experts said. "Indigenous Peoples, small-scale fishers and coastal communities all depend on a healthy ocean to survive. Their enjoyment of their human rights is at stake- including rights to food, to health, and to a healthy environment, including a safe climate and healthy ecosystems and biodiversity, as well as cultural rights."
They stressed that deep-seabed governance must be transparent, inclusive, participatory, science-based, and oriented toward protecting the human rights of both present and future generations.
"Marine activities that pose significant risks for humanity must not be authorised," the experts said. "The deep seabed is the common heritage of humankind, thus governance must consistently protect it," they said.
