Developing an international legal framework for the environmental regulation of deep sea mining: A comparative analysis of the deep sea mining regulations of Papua New Guinea, the Cook Islands and the United States

Deep sea mining in maritime areas within national jurisdiction (that is the exclusive economic zone and continental shelf), as opposed to maritime areas beyond national jurisdiction is the focus of this paper. Under the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) 1982, States have sovereign rights for exploring and exploiting the natural resources of their exclusive economic zones and their continental shelves, which measure at least 200 nautical miles from their coasts. They are also responsible for protecting the marine environment in these zones, as well as managing and conserving the resources within their exclusive economic zones. To this end therefore, they may enact whatever laws they deem fit to meet these obligations. This state of affairs reveals the undesirable possibility of the application of different standards for marine environment protection insofar as it concerns deep sea mining. In view of the negative impact on the environment that these mining activities could occasion and in light of limited knowledge of the extent thereof, scholars have called for the application of the precautionary principle to halt deep sea mining or for the adoption of an international legal framework to guarantee protection of the marine environment. In the absence of any such international legal framework and in view of increasing interest in deep sea mining, this paper embarks on a comparative analysis of the few available deep seabed mining laws, namely that of the United States of America, Cook Islands and Papua New Guinea, accessing their fitness for purpose in terms of the protection of the marine environment and identifying best practice, trends and loopholes that might be useful as preparatory material for any future conclusion of an internationally acceptable legal framework for deep sea mining. This is based on the notion that a legal regulatory framework is vital in the quest to protect the marine environment