With negotiations to adopt rules and regulations for commercial deep-sea mining in international waters resuming this week at the International Seabed Authority (ISA), African countries have an extremely important role to play in the future of this industry and the health of our ocean.

ISA, as a UN-affiliated institution, was established in the 1990s to ensure that developing countries would benefit financially from deep-sea mining when/if it starts, ensuring equity in the benefits derived from global commons. As this debate progresses, Africa stands at a pivotal moment where its decisions could profoundly influence the trajectory of this industry and the preservation of marine ecosystems.

Industry advocates claim there are millions of dollars to be made from minerals located in the deep sea. And through yet-to-be-decided financial and royalty mechanisms at the ISA, African countries could reap huge financial and economic benefits.

But our research, which looks at the full net cost of deep-sea mining for a wide variety of stakeholders, including mining companies, investors, low-income countries, sponsoring........

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