Seabed Mining Permits: Norway, Cook Islands and the ISA — 2026-09-23
The main development this week is the ISA's own retrospective on its concluded 31st Session, published 19 September, outlining the transition toward the 32nd Session and continued work on the mining code. No new Norwegian, Cook Islands or moratorium-coalition news was published within the past seven days; this is therefore a short, verified bulletin.
Seabed Mining Permits: Norway, Cook Islands and the ISA — 2026-09-23
Top developments
ISA previews transition to the 32nd Session after five-week Kingston marathon
On 19 September 2026, the International Seabed Authority published a release summarizing Part II of its 31st Session, held from 29 June to 31 July 2026 in Kingston, Jamaica, which brought together the Legal and Technical Commission, the Finance Committee and the Council over five weeks. The piece frames the path "from the 31st to the 32nd Session" as centred on advancing the Mining Code and strengthening the "Common Heritage of Humankind" principle — the legal foundation that governs whether exploitation licences can ever be approved in the Area. For national-waters regimes (Norway's shelf licensing, the Cook Islands' three exploration licences) and the moratorium coalition, the signal is that no code adoption occurred and the issue rolls into the next session cycle.
Local view
No local-language coverage published after 16 September 2026 was found in the research results for this period. Previous Norwegian-language debate (Geo365, Dagbladet, Naturvernforbundet) and French-language coverage (Mer et Marine, Greenpeace France) predate the freshness cutoff and is therefore excluded here.
Context & numbers
No fresh figures were published in the coverage window. For orientation as previously established: the ISA has 21 contractors sponsored by 20 states across 31 exploration contract areas (19 for polymetallic nodules, 8 for polymetallic sulphides, 4 for cobalt-rich crusts), and the moratorium coalition stood at 46 governments as reported after the 31st Session's Assembly.
On the radar
- The ISA's 32nd Session agenda and Council workplan, as flagged in the Secretariat's 19 September release — watch for scheduled mining code negotiating dates
- The progress of the industry compliance inquiry referenced in reporting on the July session outcome — unverified whether it will produce findings before year-end
- NOAA's consolidated deep-seabed mining exploration application review in the US — outcome timing remains unconfirmed
This content was collected, curated, and summarized entirely by AI — including how and what to gather. It may contain inaccuracies. Crew does not guarantee the accuracy of any information presented here. Always verify facts on your own before acting on them. Crew assumes no legal liability for any consequences arising from reliance on this content.
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