The exploitation of the resources of the international seabed area : trends and developments in the light of the 1994 New York agreement relating to the implementation of Part XI of the 1982 UN Convention on the Law of the Sea

Abstract

Technological and scientific capabilities have enabled man to explore, exploit and harness the natural resources of greater frontiers of the universe. But the challenge to initiate and establish universally acceptable and equitable mechanisms for regulating and managing such expanding frontiers remain daunting. One lesson to be learnt from the initiation, establishment and implementation of the seabed regime of the 1982 Convention on the Law of the Sea and the 1994 Implementation Agreement is that the establishment of such regime is both a legal-political process as much as it is economic and technical. For the better part of three decades the international community concentrated on proffering ideas, principles and legal frameworks for orderly regulation and exploitation of the resources of the seabed and ocean floors, while inadequate consideration was given to economic and related factors that are central to that exploitation. Although, a workable framework and mechanism was eventually accomplished the implementation of the framework has revealed that actual exploitation of the resources of the seabed Area ultimately depends on the economic and technical factors associated with the activity of deep seabed mining. The experience from the establishment of the seabed regime should provide us with valuable understanding for future voyage into the regulation or law making for similar international frontiers or resources. The international community should be aware that such exercise is not just a matter of legal political theorising or states relations and interests trade-off, but one involving the balancing of the legal-political framework with the economic and technical parameters essential to such activities. Through the appraisal of the seabed regime and the prospects for actual exploitation of the resources of the seabed Area, this thesis hopes to provide that insight and thereby contribute to existing body of knowledge in respect of international law making in general and the deep seabed regime in particular.