Knowledge Exchange in Seabed Mining Governance: Barriers, Opportunities, and Lessons Learned.

Abstract

Effective governance of deep-sea mining faces significant challenges due to scientific uncertainty, regulatory fragmentation, and competing economic and environmental interests. As the sole regulatory body, the International Seabed Authority (ISA) is tasked with both facilitating resource extraction and ensuring environmental protection. However, its decision-making processes are constrained by a lack of transparency, unequal access to data and knowledge, and limited stakeholder participation and public consultation, raising concerns about the integration of scientific evidence and stakeholder input into policy outcomes.This dissertation employs a Knowledge Exchange (KE) theoretical framework to examine how knowledge is produced, shared and mobilized within the governance of deep-sea mining, with a particular focus on Regional Environmental Management Plans (REMPS) as a key management instrument. To investigate these issues, a mix-method approach was applied, incorporating quantitative and qualitative research methodologies, to analyze publicly available datasets, gray literature, legal documents, stakeholder submissions and procedural records from ISA’s development process. The first chapter introduces the KE Framework and sets it into the context of the ISA governance challenges, arguing that many of its core issues are fundamental KE problems. However, the way in which knowledge is mobilized, shared and applied withing ISA processes remains poorly understood. Chapter 2 evaluates our knowledge of deep-sea hydrothermal vent management and protection worldwide, while it reveals that 25% of known active deep-sea vents are under management, it highlights gaps in the lack of KE into existing conservation strategies. Current conservation interventions remain fragmented and discordant across jurisdictions and biogeographical provinces and there is the need for improved regional and global coordination, positioning the ISA as a key actor in ocean governance for the advancement of hydrothermal vent protection. Chapter 3 examines KE in the REMP development process comparing the Clarion- 8 Clipperton Zone (CCZ) REMP and the Mid-Atlantic Ridge (NMAR) REMP to assess how scientific knowledge has been mobilized to establish non-mining measures. It identifies instances where scientific knowledge has been sidelined in favor of prioritizing mining claims, reflecting power asymmetries in the process. While the introduction of public consultations in the REMP process marks an historical improvement, the analysis also exposes critical shortcomings including inadequate data accessibility, and lack of procedural transparency. Chapter 4 aims to promote KE to improve public participation practices at the ISA providing model practices from terrestrial extractive industries of six countries with robust mining regulatory regimes. Public participation practices in Australia, Chile, China, Indonesia, Jamaica and South Africa are analyzed to offer insight and common themes from a regulatory point of view that can be transferred into the context of seabed mining in the Area. Chapter 5 further examines the role of public stakeholder consultation in the KE shaping REMP processes. Considering the similarities between Marine Spatial Planning (MSP) and REMP, this chapter use an MSP-based analytical framework to explore the stakeholder’s submission for the consultation on the North Mid Atlantic Ridge REMP. The analysis confirms persistent challenges, such as limited transparency, weak enforcement mechanisms, and inadequate integration of diverse knowledge systems, which undermine the effectiveness of REMPs. However, findings suggest that public consultation is essential for KE since it played a crucial role in influencing decision-making at the ISA. Finally, Chapter 6 synthesizes the findings under the KE framework, showing that this dissertation is demonstrating that the ISA struggles to facilitate effective KE. The dissertation concludes by proposing strategies to strengthen participatory governance, enhance transparency, and improve knowledge integration within seabed mining policy and management. These findings have broader implications for ocean governance, highlighting the need for structural reforms and external oversight to ensure that knowledge is equitably mobilized and applied in international seabed decision-making.