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Transcript

Pradeep Singh on The Law of the Sea, the ISA, and the Politics of Deep-Sea Mining

Pradeep Arjan Singh — International ocean governance expert, Senior Project Manager at the Oceano Azul Foundation, and advisor to the IUCN. Pradeep works at the intersection of environmental law, global equity, and multilateral ocean negotiations.


🧭 Episode Overview

In this foundational episode, Pradeep Singh takes us inside the legal architecture of the deep sea. We cover:

  • How the ISA came to be and what it’s actually supposed to do

  • Why the two-year rule was created and what it’s triggering has accomplished

  • The U.S. vs the ISA process

  • The difficultires of benefit-sharing and compensation mechanisms

  • What to expect at this year’s council meetings

  • What kind of research and financial modeling is still missing

Whether you’re policy-curious or professionally involved in seabed governance, this is a must-listen.


⏱️ Chapter Highlights

00:00 – From Malaysia to multilateral negotiations: Pradeep’s legal background
04:00 – The role of Oceano Azul, UNFCCC, CBD, and BBNJ
11:00 – UNCLOS, the ISA, and why deep-sea mining triggered global treaty-making
27:00 – What’s missing from the regulations: enforcement, liability, and monitoring
33:00 – Benefit-sharing and the $95k problem
45:00 – The two-year rule: origin, misuse, and consequences
55:00 – U.S. unilateral mining: legal and environmental risks
1:02:00 – Debunking geopolitics and the myth of metal scarcity
1:10:00 – What we still don’t know: scaling, cumulative impacts, and economic modeling

Theme music: Tamarack by Jesse Matas


🔗 References & Resources


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