Since verasoie has written a great writeup about the recent rare-earth find by Japanese geologists here (also reported by the BBC), I'm going to actually focus on a little different angle of this bit of news.
(Aside: Thank you versoie for doing the initial writeup; I had planned to do a two parter, one to introduce the news, another this diary - you've saved me quite a bit of time!)
What I'd like to write about is how discoveries of sought after resources are occurring in "unclaimed" territory, the laws affecting the extraction of such resources, and progressive ideas for managing these resources.
What's in the Oceans?
So we already know about the huge rare-earth find. What other discoveries have been made?
China has already signaled a willingness to explore thermal vents for copper, nickel, and other metals.
Chimneys top some vents. These smokestacks are formed from dissolved metals that precipitate out (form into particles) when the super-hot vent water meets the surrounding seawater, which is only a few degrees above freezing.
Numerous countries are looking to the arctic as the easily accessible reserves of hydrocarbons are drying up or are located in increasingly tumultuous locations.
A report completed in 2008 by USGS argued that almost one-quarter of the undiscovered, technically recoverable, hydrocarbons in the world may be contained in an area north of the Arctic Circle. This – in numerical terms – amounts to 90bn barrels of undiscovered, technically recoverable oil, 1,670 trillion cubic feet of technically recoverable natural gas, and 44bn barrels of technically recoverable natural gas liquids in 25 geologically defined areas thought to have potential for petroleum.
There are many more examples of the discovery of resources locked in the depths of the seas. As demand for goods increases, the cost-barriers to exploiting these resources lower. But what are the current laws for extracting resources in the open ocean?
"International Waters" - the True Last Frontier
The Earth's surface itself is over 70% covered by oceans - with the vast majority of these waters having no national ownership.
The governing agreement is the current UN Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS). The agreement has been signed by the US, but we have not ratified this convention. Interestingly, the main objection to UNCLOS was the establishment of the International Seabed Authority (ISA), which opponents claimed would hamper US economic interests.
The ISA's mission is to "organize and control activities in the Area[limits of national jurisdiction], particularly with a view to administering the resources of the Area." So far, it has established only a handful of rules for only very specific materials. This is limited to iron & manganese deposits (Polymetallic Nodules), and sulfides.
There are no current regulations for hydrocarbon extraction, and cobalt-based compound rules have only just begun the drafting process. These regulations seem unlikely, and possibly beyond the purview of the ISA.
And any mining of the seabed is going to be expense - maybe even cost prohibitive - for now, anyways.
So What's a Progressive to do?
So here's my question for the progressive community:
Given that there exist vast resources in the oceans that are currently unregulated by any agency (and hold little promise to be), what would a "progressive" solution entail? How would we balance the needs of the world economy with the fragile ocean environment? What enforcement measures would be possible? And, even though it is far-fetched - what would the effect of an independent micro-nation, established for the sole purpose of establishing a "national" claim to resources be on ISA's authority?
Your thoughts are welcome in comments below!