A hard-hitting report 'Why the Rush: seabed mining in the Pacific ocean' looks at companies who are driving a speculative rush for seabed minerals in an unholy alliance with the very UN body charged with regulating them, the International Seabed Authority (ISA)

China is one of the most important countries with respect to the emerging seabed mining industry. This report covers several reasons for this assessment including: China's heavy investment in the development of its seabed mining industry and associated technology; it is actively exercising its political power in the relevant international fora; and importantly China plays a huge part in the current global market for minerals as both a producer and consumer.

This report is based on research conducted for the Bread for the World Pacific Regional Office during February to April 2016. The research was led by Dr. Helen Rosenbaum from the Deep Sea Mining campaign with field research assistance from Rosa Koain and Christina Tony and logistical support from the Bismarck Ramu Group. During March 2016, the research team conducted interviews with 50 individual stakeholders and held five group interviews in Madang, Kavieng (NIP), Kokopo (ENBP) and Port Moresby. Community visits were conducted in west coast NIP, the Duke of York Islands and Karkar Island (Madang). In addition, video footage of interviews previously filmed by the Bismarck Ramu Group were analysed. The cross section of stakeholders interviewed included national and provincial government representatives; church representatives; members of non-governmental and community based organisations; community leaders; women’s leaders; university researchers; members of parliament; a tourism operator; and fishery cooperative managers.

This report critiques Nautilus Minerals  Environmental and Social Benchmarking Analysis (ESBA) revealing its indefensible flaws. It finds that the ESBA uses metrics that bear no relevance to deep sea and marine environments and fails the well accepted requirements of a cost-benefit analysis. Thus the ESBA fails to provide a framework to assist decisions about the advisability of Solwara 1 or of any other deep sea mining project.

This report is a more detailed review of the physical oceanographic elements of the Nautilus Solwara 1 EIS. We chose to look at these aspects due to their critical importance to level of risk that coastal communities and marine ecosystems will be exposed to. This review finds that the oceanographic aspects of the EIS suffer from a lack of rigour. There are many errors and omissions in the modelling, presentation and analysis of data. As a result the EIS seriously downplays the risks facing local communities and the marine environment

This report provides an overview of deep Sea mining in general and the Nautilus Solwara 1 project in Papua New Guinea in particular. This report raises significant concerns about gaps in the Solwara 1 Environmental Impact Statement and the many risks that remain to be identified and assessed.

This report details that it would be likely that Nautilus Solwara 1 deep sea mining project would result in severe, prolonged, and perhaps region-wide impacts to a globally rare and poorly understood biological community, and it is clear that the Nautilus EIS does not adequately assess many of these impacts. Furthermore the report makes note that the benefits to local people or the economy of PNG seem disproportionately low compared to the scale and risk of the project.

This report undertakes a legal and policy analysis of DSM providing an overall mapping of the legislative status of DSM in eleven Pacific Island nations and additional in-depth case study analyses of Tonga, Papua New Guinea, and Fiji. Incorporating fieldwork carried out over four months, the case studies reflect on governmental capacity to effectively monitor monitor DSM and manage resource revenue, as well as concerns about corruption, negative impacts, and lack of consultation with local communities.

This report analyses the development of the Regional Legislative and Regulatory Framework for Deep Sea Minerals Exploration and Exploitation (RLRF) initiated by the Secretariat of the Pacific Community (SPC) from an International Law perspective.

The Greenpeace report looks at the serious impacts deep sea mining could have on our oceans. Demanding that no seabed mining applications are granted, and that no exploration or exploitation takes place, unless and until the full range of marine habitats, biodiversity and ecosystem functions are adequately protected.

This World Bank report recommends that Pacific Island countries supporting or considering deep sea mining activities proceed with a high degree of caution and adopt the precautionary Principle to avoid irreversible damage to the ecosystem, and ensure that appropriate social and environmental safeguards are in place as part of strong governance arrangements for this emerging industry.

This chapter from 'Deep Sea Minerals: Deep Sea Minerals and the Green Economy' produced by the Secretariat of the Pacific Community focuses on the primary drivers of deep sea mining in the Pacific, with a shorter discussion on secondary drivers and the restrictive forces operating in the region. Investigating these drivers provides an objective framework for improved understanding of the forces behind the industry, leading to better decision making. This investigation, like the industry, is in its infancy. Further work is required to better inform Pacific Island states of the factors influencing the future of the industry.

This chapter from 'Deep Sea Minerals: Deep Sea Minerals and the Green Economy' produced by the Secretariat of the Pacific Community, Fiji asks questions such as what of the social and community impacts of deep sea mining? How might communities be affected or societies changed when the most socially disruptive aspects of mining shift offshore? How can such impacts be predicted, measured, and monitored? And will communities be able to register complaints successfully, exercise decision-making authority, or grant a social licence to operate to an industry operating not in their backyards, but in their equally prized and culturally important seas?