In deep seabed mineral resource development, environmental impact assessments (EIAs) are essential to balancing development and environmental protection, and their implementation is mandatory under international law. This paper provides an overview of the EIA procedures established by the International Seabed Authority (ISA), the international organization overseeing deep seabed mineral resource development. It also briefly examines the potential impact of the BBNJ Agreement on EIAs for deep seabed mineral resource development.

Concerns about the environmental impact of seabed mineral resource development have led to negative feedback from global companies, scientists and policy experts, insurance companies, and some countries. Meanwhile, the International Seabed Authority is working to achieve harmony between development and the environmental conservation through various initiatives, one of which is the establishment of environmental thresholds. Environmental thresholds are expected to be effective, concrete, and transparent, but developing appropriate thresholds is not easy. Therefore, the members of Legal and Technical Comission are currently concentrating their efforts to come up with solutions.

SIP Phase 3 "National Platform for Innovative Ocean Developments," a program led by the Cabinet Office promotes the conservation and utilization of oceans, which are crucial to Japan's security as a maritime nation. In addition to implementing research and development results in society, the project aims to collect various ocean data and build a platform to promote resource conservation and climate change response. This article provides an overview of the project's efforts in its third year.

The Deep-Sea Drilling Vessel Chikyu is a large-scale research vessel that drills deep beneath the seafloor for the purpose of studying Earth and Life sciences. It has contributed to the International Ocean Drilling Program, which has been running for over 50 years, and has achieved significant results. In addition to scientific drilling, Chikyu has also contributed to resource exploration by developing rare earth extraction technology.