Public participation in seabed mining in areas beyond national jurisdiction: Lessons learned from national regulators in the terrestrial mining sector

Abstract

Public participation is internationally recognized as a useful process during Environmental Impact Assessments for many activities in the extractive industry sector. It is a practice that informs the population who might be affected by the proposed activity and can influence the decision-making process for activities that are potentially harmful to the environment. Meaningful public participation in the seabed mining sector is a fundamentally important step for the licensing process for the extraction of minerals from the seafloor. The International Seabed Authority (ISA) manages this emerging industry in the international seabed (the Area), in accordance with the provisions of the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea, which defines the Area as the common heritage of mankind. The ISA is in the process of developing a strategy for stakeholder engagement to comply with its obligations and ensure meaningful public participation. Recent developments at the ISA, including Nauru's request to finalize the exploitation regulations within two years, have made developing coherent public participation practices even more urgent before mining commences. This article looks at public participation procedures in extractive industries of several countries with robust mining regulatory regimes to identify common themes that the ISA might usefully apply. Stakeholder engagement practices in Australia, Chile, China, Indonesia, Jamaica and South Africa are studied to offer insight and common themes from a regulatory point of view that may be worth considering in the context of seabed mining in the Area.