Michael Lodge, general counsel for the International Seabed Authority, told me that the authority's aim was to encourage a new mining industry to exploit seabed minerals but within strict environmental controls.
It involves, notably, enforcing the law (in particular laws concerning nature conservation and the mining code), making sites secure, reinforcing the operational capacity of the Congolese Wildlife Authority, reducing commercial poaching, stopping the illicit exploitation of natural resources and strengthening the efforts of peaceful evacuation of illegal occupants of protected areas.
If ratified by Congress, it will grant a Kingston, Jamaica-based International Seabed Authority (ISA) the power to regulate deep-sea oil exploration, seabed mining, and fishing rights.