Policy
US stakes competing claims to Pacific seabed mining areas, challenging UN authority
Mongabay · By Mike DiGirolamo ·
The Brief
- A Mongabay investigation reports a surge of claim applications for areas of the Clarion-Clipperton Zone in the Pacific Ocean.
- The Clarion-Clipperton Zone is a deep-sea area regulated by the International Seabed Authority.
- The claims are described as competing with UN authority over the seabed.
Why it matters
Competing claims to deep-sea mining areas could complicate the UN-led system that governs seabed resources and the ecosystems in those areas.
Who’s affected
- marine scientists and deep-sea ecologists
- policymakers following international ocean governance
- #deep sea
- #seabed mining
- #clarion-clipperton zone
- #international law
- #ocean governance
A recent Mongabay investigation by Elizabeth Claire Alberts and Andrés Alegría reveals that the Clarion-Clipperton Zone of the Pacific Ocean, a swath of deep sea regulated by the International Seabed Authority, has received a surge of claim applications filed with the United…