SPC Geoscience Division

The Secretariat of the Pacific Community (SPC) and the European Union will establish a community of practice for Pacific Islands’ policy officers and legislative drafters involved in deep sea minerals.

The new initiative is a key outcome of an intensive regional training workshop on deep sea minerals policy formulation and legislative drafting hosted by the Government of Samoa and organised with SPC in Apia last week.

The virtual community of practitioners will usefully exchange practices, experiences, questions and challenges with regards to the development and implementation of their deep sea mineral policies and legislation.

The Director of SPC’s Geoscience Division, Professor Mike Petterson, said the initiative will enable policy officers and legislative drafters to share and discuss the future development of deep sea mineral regulatory frameworks, including the strengths and weaknesses in existing deep sea mineral policies and legislation, and to grasp whether there is a need for further development and changes.