Deep-Sea Mining And Race For Ocean Resources
- IJLLR Journal
- Aug 12
- 1 min read
Sravan Chandra, CHRIST (Deemed to be University) Pune, Lavasa
Adeline Coelho, CHRIST (Deemed to be University) Pune, Lavasa
ABSTRACT
There has been an increase in demand for important minerals like cobalt, nickel, manganese, and rare earths with a rise in the level of development and a thirst to attain maximum advantage and profits with these resources. People have started curating an interest in deep sea mining (DSM) as an alternative to onshore mining. If we see the intersection or at the crossroads of opportunities pertaining to the economic arena and concerns in the aspect of environment, deep sea mining is emerging as a frontier for the natural resources being extracted. This paper examines the geopolitical, legal, and environmental aspects of the race for oceanic resources, every country wants the resources and hence it is termed as race as to who can attain maximum of it thereby earning huge profits. There is an emphasis on the competition that is rising between various corporations and states to develop mineral-rich regions of the seabed, specifically in the Clarion-Clipperton Zone. The role of International Seabed Authority (ISA) is analysed in a crucial manner here, the regulatory issues under UNCLOS, and the urgent requirement for a global moratorium because of possible irreparable harm to oceanic biodiversity. By multidisciplinary means, the paper draws attention to the requirement of having a balanced approach when it comes to the conservation of ecology and the security of the resources, thereby, demanding international governance mechanisms that are more rigid and strict in nature and technological means that are sustainable in nature.
