The international sea bed authority is going to have to make a call on this. Chris, Steve mentioned the question of how to share the profits from this endeavor in an equitable way. Are there any interesting solutions around that on the table? The African Union has calculated that that would work out to as little as $100,000 per country per year. Many African countries have huge mining operations and are concerned that deep sea mining will undercut commodity prices.
As the International Seabed Authority gathers in Jamaica to thrash out regulations for mining the deep sea, Chris Michael of the Guardian’s Seascape team gives Ian Sample the background to this highly contested decision. Ian also hears from the marine biologist Dr Diva Amon about why some scientists are sounding the alarm. Help support our independent journalism at
theguardian.com/sciencepod