Schwabach, Aaron, A Hole in the Bottom of the Sea: Does the UNCLOS Part XI Regulatory Framework for Deep Seabed Mining Provide Adequate Protection against Strip-Mining the Ocean Floor?, 39 Va. Envtl. L.J. 39 (2022).
The ocean floors are littered with mineral resources: polymetallic nodules and sulfide deposits, and cobalt-rich crusts. The technology to extract these resources now exists – but at what environmental cost? Prof. Schwabach explores the ways in which international environmental law protects, and fails to protect, against such environmental harm.
