Workshop: Effective, Accountable and Transparent Governance Practices for Deep Seabed Mining

Event Details

The International Seabed Authority (ISA) plays a unique role as a global environmental and resource regulator, managing the emerging frontier of deep seabed mining (DSM). As the international community edges closer to permitting DSM activities, ensuring effective, accountable, and transparent oversight by the ISA is critical for achieving equitable and environmentally sound outcomes. This workshop will bring together a working group of international governance experts explore in greater detail the potential sources of accountability standards and procedures that may be relevant to the ISA's decision-making environment. The discussion will focus on whether the ISA's existing structures and decision-making processes meet evolving international standards and what reforms may be desirable to align with best practices in good governance.

This event is part of a broader research initiative funded by the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada, which investigates the accountability mechanisms of international organisations with a focus on the ISA. It follows an initial workshop held in March 2024, which scoped key governance issues.

Core Project Team: Professor Neil Craik (University of Waterloo); Associate Professor Aline Jaeckel (Australian National Centre for Ocean Resources and Security); Dr Pradeep Singh (Oceano Azul Foundation); Hannah Lily (Law Consultancy, UK); Julian Jackson (Pew Charitable Trusts UK).

Chair 

Prof Neil Craik, University of Waterloo

Registration

This event is open to invited guests only. 

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