Benefit Sharing and the Common Heritage of Humankind: What constitutes equitable distribution?

Webinar Overview

The UN Convention on the Law of the Sea categorizes minerals found in the deep seabed beyond national jurisdiction as the ‘common heritage of [hu]mankind.’ The extraction of these minerals is regulated through the International Seabed Authority (ISA). As part of the regime, the ISA must develop rules for the “equitable sharing of financial and economic benefits” from the exploitation of the common heritage of humankind.

Work on this important issue recently began at the ISA, resulting in a Technical Study prepared by consultants and the ISA Secretary-General, and a report to the ISA’s governing bodies (the Council and the Assembly) from its Finance Committee. The ISA’s plans for a benefit-sharing regime are scheduled for discussion by member States at the next formal sessions of the ISA’s Council and Assembly, in July 2023.

This webinar, hosted by The Pew Charitable Trusts and RESOLVE, took place on Thursday, June 8, 2023. It brought together experts to unpack the models, assumptions and recommendations that have been made thus far. Professor Dale Squires, professor in economics at the University of California, San Diego, and one of the authors of the Technical Study, presented a brief overview of that report and the conceptual basis for equitable benefit sharing from a multidisciplinary lens. Dr. Daniel Wilde, Economic Adviser at the Commonwealth Secretariat, and Hannah Lily, an independent legal consultant specializing in deep sea mining issues, presented issues raised in a recent paper they co-authored on benefit-sharing. Dr. Wilde discussed likely revenues from deep seabed mining, benefit sharing criteria, and governance of the seabed sustainability fund. Ms. Lily offered insights and reflections on the legal and policy landscape for the establishment of a benefit sharing mechanism at the ISA.

 

Materials: 

 

The webinar agenda is available here. A summary of the webinar is available here. 

The following presentations were shared during the webinar: 

 

• Dale Squires: Sharing the Benefits from the Deep Sea
• Daniel Wilde: A discussion of the likely revenues from deep seabed mining, benefit sharing criteria, and governance of the seabed sustainability fund
• Hannah Lily: Benefit-sharing at the ISA: Policy and Legal Reflections

Additional resources: 

 

• ISA Policy Brief on the Equitable Sharing of Financial and Other Economic Benefits from Deep-sea Mining

 

 

CONTACTS

Paul De Morgan

 

 

Photo Credit: NOAA Office of Ocean Exploration and Research