UN approves resolution regulating seabed mining

The United Nations General Assembly has passed a resolution regulating seabed mining, paving the way for ratification of the landmark UN treaty on the Law of the Sea, which has languished for years.

The resolution, approved by a 121-0 vote, with seven abstentions, amends a conflictive section of the treaty which industrialized nations considered too restrictive and damaging to free enterprise, Agence France Presse reports. The amendment states that the seabed and its oil and mineral resources outside of territorial waters belong to the “common heritage of mankind,” without specifying that the profits they generate have to be shared by all countries equally.

The Law of the Sea treaty was first proposed in 1967, but has languished since 1982, when negotiations focused on Section XI dealing with underwater resources.

Since 1992, the nearly completed treaty has been signed by 159 countries, but it has been one short of the 160 ratifications needed to go into effect. Guyana is expected to ratify the treaty in October and one month later, on Nov. 16, it is expected to be enforced.

The U.S. and most other developed nations have neither signed nor ratified the treaty. The U.S. Senate is scheduled to vote on the treaty later on this year.