San Jose, March 3 (Prensa Latina) Costa Rica reiterated in Panama the need to have scientific data before exploiting the seabed, in line with its proposal to implement a precautionary expansion of mining in these areas, the local chancellery announced today .
At a meeting convened by France with representatives from 15 countries participating in the eighth edition of the Our Ocean conference, Foreign Minister Arnoldo André reiterated his country’s proposal to implement a precautionary extension when seabed mining begins in July 2022.
Costa Rica presented this initiative at the 27th session of the International Seabed Authority (ISA), where participants advocated that this exploitation is possible until protection of the deep sea can be guaranteed.
The foregoing, according to the Costa Rican Ministry of Foreign Affairs, requires a robust regulatory framework and adequate scientific information, as well as institutional strengthening of ISAs to promote transparency and accountability.
For her part, the Director General for Foreign Policy at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Worship, Gina Guillén, stressed that more and more countries are aligning themselves with the position of San José.
These nations, he specified, “are examining how to coordinate action so that the seabed is not degraded until it can be ensured that this happens without harming the marine environment, which requires sufficient scientific information.”
The Costa Rican Foreign Ministry reminds that the 168 member countries of the ISA and the European Union have been negotiating a text since 2019 that is intended to regulate future mining.
For this reason, the meeting was convened by France in order to reach a common position before meetings of the Authority’s Council, which begin in Jamaica on the 16th.
Ode/ale