Naura puts UN on two-year deadline to make deep-sea mining rules
DeepGreen plans to extract cobalt and other battery metals from the seabed. (
Image courtesy of DeepGreen.)
The small Pacific island nation of Nauru made waves this week when it notified a United Nations (UN) body of plans to start deep-sea mining, giving the International Seabed Authority (ISA) two years to complete long-running talks on rules governing the new and controversial industry.
Nauru planned to trigger the “two-year rule”, which allows for a mining plan to be approved after two years under whatever rules are in place at that time.