Opponents of deep sea mining hope to take a potentially significant step toward an international moratorium on Friday, as the sector's top international authority considers what could snowball into a key regulatory text.
For years, countries opposed to such mining -- which would deliver minerals key to the green transition but with a potentially high environmental cost -- have failed to get the International Seabed Authority (ISA) to take up any debate on the subject, blocked by those supporting deep sea mining.
