Roundtable: Deep Sea Mining with Jo Feldman & Lisa Koch

Wednesday 20 November 2024

The Perth USAsia Centre will host a private roundtable with Jo Feldman and Lisa Koch, Partners at Norton Rose Fulbright, to discuss recent global developments in deep sea mining and the impacts on critical minerals supply chains. They will look at recent moves by the US, and potential impacts of deep sea mining for the US and US policy in the Indo-Pacific.
 
Jo and Lisa are Australia’s leading experts on deep sea mining regulations and have been working with the International Seabed Authority on the regulatory regime for deep sea mining in international waters.

Deep sea mining has been described as “the largest land grab in human history” –studies predict there are more critical minerals on the seabed than discovered in land-based mining in the history of mining to date.  It is not without controversy – but it is also an issue the US cannot afford to ignore. China has been a front runner in securing exploration permits for mining in international waters, and Japan has recently announced plans to start mining in its domestic waters.
 
Please note that this discussion will be held under Chatham House Rule and is by invitation only. If you wish to attend, please email perthusasiacentre@uwa.edu.au

Speakers

Jo Feldman is a Partner at Norton Rose Fulbright who has been advising the International Seabed Authority on the regulatory regime for for deep sea mining in international waters.  She also advises governments, mining, shipping, and energy companies on international trade and investment, ESG, and international arbitration.  Previously, Jo was a diplomat and international lawyer for the Australian government, negotiating free trade agreements throughout the Indo-Pacific and with the UK, working on trade and investment disputes with China and others, and serving on postings to the World Trade Organization in Geneva, the World Intellectual Property Organization, and the United Nations in New York.

Lisa Koch is a Partner at Norton Rose Fulbright who has been advising the International Seabed Authority on the regulatory regime for deep sea mining in international waters.  She has worked in South Africa, London, and Australia. In Australia, she co-heads the mining team, and leads the APAC project finance team. She advises on project finance and related transactions including royalty financing across mining, natural resources, and commodities, and on commodity offtake arrangements, with a focus on cross-border and international transactions. Lisa sat on the advisory board of Blue Nodules, an EU-funded consortium investigating the viability of deep-sea mining.

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