The influence of Pacific nations shaping seabed mining regulations should not be underestimated, according to the head of the United Nations body for the growing industry.
International Seabed Authority secretary-general Leticia Carvalho recently attended a workshop for Pacific islands to inform a potential sponsoring state for a seabed mining company.
Governments of Nauru, Tonga, Kiribati and the Cook Islands have already expressed interest in the field which promises to enhance their small-scale economies after having spoken to mining parties from China and the US regarding the nodules found on the ocean floor.
The nodules are rich in minerals such as copper, cobalt and nickel, and are highly valued for modern technologies including in electric vehicle batteries, renewable energy and smartphones.
But other Pacific island states, specifically Papua New Guinea and New Caledonia, have already looked to draft legislation to place strict moratoriums on the practice over environmental concerns as well as the effects on longstanding cultural traditions in their own waters.
Hosts of the Pacific Small Island Developing States regional workshop on the Deep Seabed Sustainable Blue Growth initiative, Fiji, are taking a cautious and science-driven approach towards deep sea mining, and its government has yet to take an official stance on the prospective industry.
Minister for Lands and Mineral Resources, Filimoni Vosarogo, has told local media while Fiji has minerals on its ocean floor, the government is not convinced that seabed mining is likely to be commercially viable.
There remains an unknown risk to how ecologically damaging seabed mining could be to the marine environment due to a lack of proven data.
Ms Carvalho said the Pacific region and the impact on the livelihood on Indigenous cultures was ethically integral for the International Seabed Authority's process of developing rules for mining.
"Some of the (nations) are really close to the idea of mining in the deep sea outside of national jurisdiction," she told Radio New Zealand after meeting with multiple Pacific leaders.
"Others are very much attached to the environmental safeguards and (are) cautious about this activity - therefore this region has a big role in shaping the regime."
Ms Carvalho, who is also the first woman to lead the organisation since the International Seabed Authority was established in 1982 by the UN's Convention on the Law of the Sea, has a clear understanding of concerns after decades of intensive experience in global environmental governance.
The 53-year-old oceanographer from Brazil says she respects the opposing views coming out of Pasifika states with her role in Fiji restricted to facilitating dialogue at the workshop.
"That is why I am here for capacity building, training, bringing my team to support these countries to better understand how they can make decisions internally, and how they can sit at the table with others to find a consensus in the multilateral space," she said.
Ms Carvalho held discussions with representatives of Pacific Islands Forum member nations and their respective civil society organisations.
Civil society organisations, a group of people who operate for the community and are distinct from either government or commercially-driven businesses, were known to have complained over not being included on some of the specific details that only governments were privy to last week.
"This kind of training was particularly formulated to get government officials more enlightened about their responsibilities and how to make deals with contractors and investors," she said.
Ms Carvalho said it was good to hear the concerns of some representatives of civil society networks firsthand.
The Cook Islands remains the only Pacific nation to have conducted significant seabed exploration within its own waters and has the legal framework in place to mine against community objections.
"They are still seeing a big gap in their participation and their voices to be heard in the decision making," she said.
"It was very enlightening for me to see that there is still work to be done in this region to make that communities can really engage and shape and influence decision making."
