Environmental Impact Assessment process for deep-sea mining in ‘the Area’

Durden, Jennifer M.; Lallier, Laura E.; Murphy, K. J.; Jaeckel, Aline; Gjerde, Kristina M.; Jones, Daniel O.B.

doi:10.1016/j.marpol.2017.10.013

Cited by 102 publications

(50 citation statements)

References 20 publications

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“…A typical environmental impact assessment will assess the risks of the project in question and sensitivities of the environment. It should also identify alternative project plans that may reduce or mitigate the impacts of mining, helping to preserve unique and vulnerable communities (Durden et al 2018). The negative impacts on an ecosystem are typically reduced by applying a fourstage mitigation hierarchy during mining operations.…”

Section: Environmental Management: Reducing the Impact Of Deep-ocean mentioning

confidence: 99%

Mining Deep-Ocean Mineral Deposits: What are the Ecological Risks?

2018

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A key question for the future management of the oceans is whether the mineral deposits that exist on the seafloor of the deep ocean can be extracted without significant adverse effects to the environment. The potential impacts of mining are wide-ranging and will vary depending on the type of metal-rich mineral deposit being mined. There is, currently, a significant lack of information about deep-ocean ecosystems and about potential mining technologies: thus, there could be many unforeseen impacts. Here, we discuss the potential ecological impacts of deep-ocean mining and identify the key knowledge gaps to be addressed. Baseline studies must be undertaken, as well as regular monitoring of a mine area, before, during, and after mineral extraction.

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Section: Environmental Management: Reducing the Impact Of Deep-ocean mentioning

confidence: 99%

Mining Deep-Ocean Mineral Deposits: What are the Ecological Risks?

2018

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“…Furthermore, seabed mining poses serious risks for the living environment of the deep sea, including understudied genetic resources, of which some have already given rise to patents. The deep sea is a less researched natural environment with unknown biota, and prolonged recovery of natural conditions in millennia or even longer time frames [55,[63][64][65]. These circumstances render the entire technical-environmental system of mining at the seabed complex-adaptive.…”

Section: Controlmentioning

confidence: 99%

Ethics to Intersect Civic Participation and Formal Guidance

2019

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Sound governance arrangement in socio-ecological systems (human niche) combines different means of sense-making. The sustainability of human niche-building depends on the governability of the social-ecological systems (SES) forming the niche. Experiences from small-scale marine fisheries and seabed mining illustrate how ethical frameworks, civic participation and formalised guidance combine in the context of a “blue economy”. Three lines of inquiries contextualise these experiences driving research questions, such as “what is the function of ethics for governability?” First, complex-adaptive SES are featured to emphasise the sense-making feedback loop in SES. Actors are part of this feedback loop and can use different means of sense-making to guide their actions. Second, the “Voluntary Guidelines for Sustainable Small-Scale Fisheries” and geoethical thinking are featured to highlight the relevance of actor-centric concepts. Third, Kohlberg’s model of “stages of moral adequacy” and the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) are used to show how to strengthen actor-centric virtue-ethics. Combining these lines of inquiry leads to the conclusion that ethical frameworks, civic participation and formalised guidance, when put in a mutual context, support governability and multi-actor/level policy-making. Further research could explore how creativity can strengthen civic participation, a feature only sketched here.

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“…A recent assessment of the EIA process for deep‐sea mining in the Area notes that stakeholder review is an element of EIA and that, for the Area, stakeholders would include “non‐state actors such as environmental groups, other resource users (e.g. the fishery sector), proponents of other human activities occurring in the same space (e.g., tourism, shipping or cables), and the public” as well as scientists and other experts (Durden et al , p 198). The authors also emphasize the high degree of uncertainty surrounding deep‐sea mining in the Area and the incompleteness of the ISA's mining policies.…”

Section: Social Concerns and Impact Managementmentioning

confidence: 99%

Deep‐sea mining: Interdisciplinary research on potential environmental, legal, economic, and societal implications

Koschinsky

Heinrich

Boehnke

et al. 2018

Integr Envir Assess & Manag

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Deep-sea mining refers to the retrieval of marine mineral resources such as Mn nodules, FeMn crusts, and seafloor massive sulfide deposits, which contain a variety of metals that serve as crucial raw materials for a range of applications, from electronic devices to renewable energy technologies to construction materials. With the intent of decreasing dependence on imports, supporting the economy, and potentially even overcoming the environmental problems related to conventional terrestrial mining, a number of public and private institutions have rediscovered their interest in exploring the prospects of deep-sea mining, which had been deemed economically and technically unfeasible in the early 1980s. To date, many national and international research projects are grappling to understand the economic environmental, social, and legal implications of potential commercial deep-sea mining operations: a challenging endeavor due to the complexity of direct impacts and spillover effects. In this paper, we present a comprehensive overview of the current state of knowledge in the aforementioned fields as well as a comparison of the impacts associated with conventional terrestrial mining. Furthermore, we identify knowledge gaps that should be urgently addressed to ensure that the world at large benefits from safe, efficient, and environmentally sound mining procedures. We conclude by highlighting the need for interdisciplinary research and international cooperation. Integr Environ Assess Manag 2018;14:672-691. © 2018 SETAC.

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Environmental Impact Assessment process for deep-sea mining in ‘the Area’

Cited by 102 publications

References 20 publications

Mining Deep-Ocean Mineral Deposits: What are the Ecological Risks?

Mining Deep-Ocean Mineral Deposits: What are the Ecological Risks?

Ethics to Intersect Civic Participation and Formal Guidance

Deep‐sea mining: Interdisciplinary research on potential environmental, legal, economic, and societal implications

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