Green Economy in a Blue World-Full Report

customs); and environmental (health and safety, waste disposal and mine rehabilitation). Unfortunately, institutions are often the weak link in the concept of ‘frameworks-institutions- governance’. Institutions often lack the moral or practical authority to monitor compliance and enforce the frameworks in place. They may also have insufficient resources to operate and effectively ensure that the frameworks are implemented and often find themselves burdened with prescribed inter-institutional competition for vital operational resources. With mineral resources becoming increasingly valuable, the deep-sea reserves of developing states may provide a new source of revenue to support development goals. Although there are many examples of poor performance of land- based mining operations which have resulted in negative consequences for developingcountries, there are also examples which show it is possible to reconcilemining activities with environmental sustainability, equitable development and the maintenance of communities. For developing states to benefit from their mineral resources, both economically and socially, the development of these resources needs to be managed in a way which takes advantage of the best practices being implemented for sustainable mining. But making the extraction of a finite resource sustainable is a real challenge. It requires good governance and transparency across a whole spectrum of interconnected areas of the mining process, including the initial decision onwhether tomine or not. There are often trade-offs made in order to achieve a benefit from one activity, such as resource development, but decisions on the acceptability of these trade-offs need to bemade in consultation with all stakeholders. The issues which need to be resolved include potential environmental impacts and liability, and social impacts. Mining operations need to provide better environmental and social outcomes with increased certainty and consistency.Where there are uncertainties the precautionary principle should be applied. The deep-sea minerals sector must be encouraged to support developing states by implementing voluntary codes which promote best practice. Industry can respond to the sustainability challenge by developing indicators which can be used to gauge performance and develop improvements. Many international companies have accepted that the landscape has changed over the last decade and 4 Conclusions and recommendations

Experience suggests that, in general, one-on- one negotiations between governments and companies havegenerally led tomore favourable terms for the companies. This in turn implies that governments would serve the interests of their countries more effectively by moving towards fixed terms for investors, and conducting negotiations on an open and transparent basis. Environmental frameworks Decision-makers in the natural resources sector should apply internationally accepted best practice in environmental management and proactively account for the value of natural capital when considering acceptable trade offs for a given project. This includes legal and policy measures which underpin environmental safeguards such as environmental impact assessments as a prerequisite for the granting of rights to companies to engage mineral exploration and development, as well as measures to support effective environmental monitoring and the mitigation of environmental damage. Further, potential for transboundary impacts both horizontally (in neighbouring countries waters) and vertically (on the water column beyond national jurisdiction) should be taken into consideration. In developing their polices, States should ensure consistency with the wealth of pre-existing initiatives, laws, policies, and guidance, including (among others): UN Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS), Noumea Convention (SPREP), Madang Guidelines, Pacific Island Regional Ocean Policy (PIROP), Oceanscapes Initiative, Convention on Biodiversity (CBD), Pacific Plan, International Seabed Authority’s Mining Code, February 2011 Advisory Opinion from the International Tribunal of the Law of the Sea, IMO Conventions (MARPOL), Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (EITI), International Marine Minerals Society (IMMS) Code for Environmental Management of Marine Mining; as well as work already undertaken in relation to national deep- sea mining regimes in the region by individual states – including that supported by the World Bank and the Commonwealth Secretariat. 3.2.2 Strong Institutions In many countries, adequate legislative and regulatory frameworks already exist, but implementation has been a challenge due to a lack of public administration capacity. Strong institutions are particularly important to the oversight of mining activity and they need to cover the same broad categories as the frameworks: legal andcontractual (management of licensing and mineral rights); fiscal (tax and

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