Pew Suggests Ways to Improve Stakeholder Engagement at the International Seabed Authority

The Pew Charitable Trusts submitted comments on Jan. 28, 2021, to the International Seabed Authority (ISA)—the entity that governs all mining-related activities on parts of the ocean floor that are beyond national jurisdiction—urging it to improve the way it engages stakeholders in decision-making.

Pew offered the comments in response to the ISA’s recently released draft communications and stakeholder engagement strategy, which in its current form will not adequately engage the ISA’s diverse stakeholders. That lack of effective engagement could lead the ISA to miss critical scientific input or concerns and fail to adequately protect the deep ocean and its sensitive ecosystems from the impacts of seabed mining. Pew believes the ISA should revise its communications and stakeholder engagement strategy in line with these comments, as well as other feedback received during the consultation period.