Commonwealth helps Cook Islands enact groundbreaking seabed mining law

Cook Islands has passed a new and comprehensive law to provide for the sustainable management of its seabed mineral resources. It is the first comprehensive legislation of its kind to have been enacted by a Pacific Island country.

The new law was developed following legal and technical assistance from the Commonwealth Secretariat to the Government of the Cook Islands.

The development of seabed mineral resources has been a subject of international commercial and scientific interest for many years, particularly with regard to polymetallic nodules.

Until very recently, high capital costs and technical challenges associated with deep seabed mining had rendered such activity uneconomic. However, recent economic and technological developments have rekindled interest in deep seabed minerals.

Cook Islands is known to have extensive deposits of high-value polymetallic nodules. The establishment of modern and effective regulatory arrangements to govern the management of these resources is a priority issue for the government, as it seeks to expand, diversify and enhance the nation’s economy.

Joshua Brien, a Legal Adviser who leads the Maritime Boundaries Programme at the Secretariat, said: “This legislation is groundbreaking for the Cook Islands. It is a comprehensive code, which will provide a robust and predictable legal framework for the sustainable development of the seabed mineral resources of the country.”

The new law seeks to apply international best practices concerning the extractive industries - including those outlined in the Extractive Industries Transparency initiative - to the management of the seabed mineral sector of the Cook Islands, focusing on environmental impact assessment, corporate social responsibility, and securing transparency and accountability in relation to the management of the country’s seabed mineral resources.

In this regard, Mr Brien noted that “the new law contains a range of initiatives to secure transparency at all stages in the cycle of a seabed mining project, from the assessment of environmental and social impacts, through to the allocation of mining rights and the long-term management of royalties and revenue.

“This will ensure that successive governments will remain properly accountable to the people of the Cook Islands concerning the use of these resources.”

The new law is likely also to serve as a model for other Pacific Island countries that have significant seabed mineral resources.

Work is continuing on the development of further measures to address a range of important issues associated with the management of seabed mineral resources, including enhancing the capacity of government departments and institutions to effectively manage seabed resources, together with the development of innovative approaches to fiscal management.

Key Links:

• Cook Islands
• Economic Development