At a time when the international community seeks to regulate the rich tapestry of ocean floors on the planet while countries and companies accelerate towards high seas extraction opportunities, here is what you need to know about Isa and why it is important now:
What is he doing?
ISA manages the mineral resources of the seabed beyond the national jurisdiction, which covers 54% of the oceans of the world, for “the common benefit of all humanity”.
Created by the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea in 1994, ISA aims to guarantee that all economic activities in the deep foundations, including mining, are regulated and managed in responsibility.
Mandated to guarantee the effective protection of the marine environment against the harmful effects which can result from the activities linked to the deep magnitude, its work also contribute At 2030 agenda for sustainable development.
The seabed contain a rich fauna and a range of minerals of rare earths.
Why does that count now?
As the only international body in the world which focuses on the deep region beyond national borders, ISA aims to respond to urgent concerns, plastic waste litter the oceans to the race to secure the minerals of rare earth to quench the insatiable thirst of the world for lithium batteries and a range of technological articles.
What types of rare earth minerals are on the bottom of the ocean? Cobalt, copper, gold, lanthane, neodymia, nickel, silver, yttrium and zinc to name only a few.
Currently, countries can continue operating on the high seas in their own territorial waters or “exclusive economic zones”. But, under international law, the seabed Deep does not belong to any country or business, the secretary general of the ISA, Leticia Carvalho, wrote in a recent editorial.
“This is our common heritage,” she said.
An active volcano on the bottom of the ocean.
What is the mining code project?
Currently, nations are looking for more and more sources of rare earth minerals to meet the demand for renewable energy technologies and elements such as mobile phones and computers. The high seas contains a plethora of supplies. This is where the mining code project comes into play.
During its 30th session, ISA members work on a code project that would protect the marine environment and strengthen the foundations to ensure that all activities in the in -depth sea region are carried out in a responsible manner and in accordance with the principles of environmental sustainability as well as for all humanity.
A food container seen based at 4,947 m on the slopes of an underwater canyon near the northern Mariana Islands in the Pacific Ocean.
Attack the “paradox of missing plastics”
Plastic pollution is another part of the problem. To solve this problem and other urgent problems, ISA members adopted a global research program in July 2020, serving as a maritime scientific research plan with six strategic priorities that include knowledge of knowledge on the high seas, promoting data sharing and providing information on ecosystems in high sea, promotion of data sharing and information on information on Scientific landscape of plastics on the high seas.
This last growing world challenge has potential consequences for the sustainable use of the oceans. In 2019, the plastic industry produced more than 450 million tonnes of plastic, a figure that should increase in the coming decades and should increase pressure on marine and species. However, part of the plastics entering the oceans remains unrecovered, a phenomenon known as “paradox of missing plastics”.
Some researchers suggest that the deep sea can act as a well for plastic debris, where their prolonged persistence could present risks for these environments.
Gland’s verses were one of the many types of fauna observed in the deep sea around the Northern Mariaes Islands in the Pacific Ocean.
The new world biobank on the high seas
Isa has also just started filling her new bioffelk, spear in June on the margins of United Nations Ocean Conference In Nice, France. The Biobank initiative (DBI) on the high seas (DBI) aims to improve access to organic samples on the high seas and to genetic data collected in the International Seab Foundation area.
Designed to promote research on the high seas and inclusive scientific collaboration, in particular for the development of states, the initiative will establish a global repository of organic samples and will develop standard operational procedures to improve the quality, sharing and use of data by stakeholders.
“The DBI is ISA’s response to an increasing need to advance research, share data, strengthen capacity and facilitate access to in -depth knowledge, in particular for developing states,” said the head of the Carvalho authority. “We aim to create standardized and fair paths for scientific collaboration, the empowerment of countries and institutions to explore, understand and protect the most distant ecosystems from the ocean.”
The International Marine Fund authority has become a central institution of global ocean architecture, reflecting a course towards responsible and sustainable use.
Diving ‘Deepdata’
The richness of data and information collected by ISA has been essential to shape environmental management plans. Each byte of data collected by high seas exploration adds new critical information on life in the ocean and helps decision -making.
When launching the Deepdata database in 2019, ISA made the largest and complete global framework for environmental data and information on the deep region for the first time.
How many data has exactly been collected? In May 2023, Deepdata contained more than 10 teraoctets, almost equivalent to 6.9 million Instagram downloads. Widely used worldwide, it has experienced around 2.4 million visitors in 2022 only and more than 160 quotes in scientific publications.
Learn more about Isa here.
- The International Marine Fund Authority (ISA) has 170 members
- Isa is an autonomous intergovernmental organization established by the UN
- The members meet each year to resolve the pressing problems
- THE 30th session ends with the meeting of the ISA assembly from July 21 to 25 in Kingston, Jamaica,
Publicado anteriormente en Almouwatin.
