The deep oceans cover half the planet, but are barely regulated. Marine policy expert Phil Burgess tells John Bonner about an organisation working to devise rules for their sustainable use.
The deep ocean is a lot like the Wild West, says Phil Burgess. “You have got an uncharted part of the world that is rich in natural resources. But it is also pretty lawless and will remain so unless we can create a governance framework.”
As director of policy and research at the Global Ocean Commission, which formulates recommendations to tackle problems affecting the seas, Burgess is working to persuade national governments to bring order to this frontier. The commission, set up in February this year, has brought together 14 leading international figures from politics and industry, including former UK foreign secretary David Miliband, to prepare a case for better management of the oceans. This comes ahead of a meeting of the General Assembly of the UN on marine biodiversity in September next year.
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