Abstract:
As exploitation of mineral resources in the international seabed areas has increasingly become a reality, the International Seabed Authority has begun to formulate regulations on the exploitation of mineral resources in the Area, and make provisions for exploitation of mineral resources and related environmental protection requirements. The exploitation regulation stipulates environmental management rules including the environmental management and monitoring plan and the environmental management system. However, there are still obvious differences and controversies between States around the standards of the environmental management and monitoring plan, the contents of environmental management systems, the duties of independent experts and the effectiveness of their opinions, and the relationship between exploitation activities and the protection of submarine cables or pipelines. China should actively participate in the negotiation of environmental management rules in the exploitation regulations, and put forward the China's proposal, advocating that the exploitation regulation should reflect relevant provisions of the UNCLOS and its Agreement relating to the implementation of Part XI, so as to achieve a reasonable balance between the exploitation and utilization of resources and ecological and environmental protection.