Assessment of scientific gaps related to the effective environmental management of deep-seabed mining
Assessment of scientific gaps related to the effective environmental management of deep-seabed mining
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DOI：
10.1016/j.marpol.2022.105006
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发表时间：
2022-03-11
期刊：
影响因子：
3.8
通讯作者：
Pickens, Chris
中科院分区：
文献类型：
--
作者：
Amon, Diva J.;Gollner, Sabine;Pickens, Chris
全面了解深海环境和采矿可能产生的影响对于评估深海海底采矿作业是否以及在何种条件下符合国际海底管理局根据《联合国海洋法公约》规定的防止“严重损害”和确保“有效保护海洋环境免受有害影响”的义务是必要的。对同行评议的文献和与深海海底采矿利益相关者的磋商进行的综合分析显示，尽管深海研究有所增加，但很少有公开的科学知识类别全面到足以在环境管理方面做出基于证据的决策，包括是否在国际海底管理局授予勘探合同的地区进行采矿。关于深海环境基线和采矿影响的进一步信息对这一新兴产业至关重要。缩小与深海底采矿有关的科学差距是一项艰巨的任务，对于履行防止严重损害和确保有效保护的总体义务至关重要，需要明确的方向、大量的资源以及强有力的协调与合作。根据收集到的信息，我们提出了一个潜在的高级别活动路线图，这可能会激发一场迫切需要的讨论，讨论在考虑任何开发之前应该采取哪些步骤来缩小关键的科学差距。这些步骤包括确定环境目标和目的，建立国际研究议程以产生新的深海环境、生物和生态信息，以及综合现有数据。
A comprehensive understanding of the deep-sea environment and mining's likely impacts is necessary to assess whether and under what conditions deep-seabed mining operations comply with the International Seabed Authority's obligations to prevent 'serious harm' and ensure the 'effective protection of the marine environment from harmful effects' in accordance with the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea. A synthesis of the peer-reviewed literature and consultations with deep-seabed mining stakeholders revealed that, despite an increase in deep-sea research, there are few categories of publicly available scientific knowledge comprehensive enough to enable evidence-based decision-making regarding environmental management, including whether to proceed with mining in regions where exploration contracts have been granted by the International Seabed Authority. Further information on deep-sea environmental baselines and mining impacts is critical for this emerging industry. Closing the scientific gaps related to deep-seabed mining is a monumental task that is essential to fulfilling the overarching obligation to prevent serious harm and ensure effective protection, and will require clear direction, substantial resources, and robust coordination and collaboration. Based on the information gathered, we propose a potential high-level road map of activities that could stimulate a much-needed discussion on the steps that should be taken to close key scientific gaps before any exploitation is considered. These steps include the definition of environmental goals and objectives, the establishment of an international research agenda to generate new deep-sea environmental, biological, and ecological information, and the synthesis of data that already exist.