1、中英双语阅读：时文选读：Into the Deep 公海谜“底” The vast expanse of ocean beyond the reach of individual nations, which covers about 46 percent of Earths surface, is known as the “high seas”. In the 1960s, the UN designated the resources here as the “common heritage of mankind ” . This principle is the cornerstone
2、 of its International Seabed Authority (ISA), created in 1994 to regulate deep-sea mining and ensure that lower-income nations benefit from it. 公海，这片不受任何国家主权管辖和支配的辽阔海域，覆盖约 46%的地球表面。 20 世纪 60 年代，联合国将公海内的海洋资源认定为“全人类共有遗产”，这一原则奠 定了国际海底管理局（ISA）成立的基石。该组织成立于 1994 年，旨在管理深海矿物 相兲活动并确保低收入国家从中获益。 Through the IS
3、A, the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) signatories have devised rules for the extraction of three different types of mineral deposits in the deep ocean. Nations can sponsor applications by contractors either mining companies or research institutions for exploration licences
4、to map and study the value of a particular type of deposit in an agreed area. Countries involved so far are Russia, South Korea, China, France, Japan, Germany, the UK, India, Poland, Brazil, Singapore, Tonga, Nauru and the Cook Islands. 联合国海洋法公约（UNCLOS）签署国经由 ISA 主持，制定出针对三种不同的深 海矿藏的开采规则。各国有权资助承包商（包括矿
5、产公司和研究机构）申办海洋勘探 许可证， 持有许可证斱可测绘协定区域， 并就该区域内特定矿藏种类的价值迚行研究。 目前已经在公海范围内开展深海研究的国家包括：俄罗斯、韩国、中国、法国、日本、 德国、英国、印度、波兰、巴西、新加坡、汤加、瑙鲁和库克群岛。 Because deep-sea mining hasnt yet begun, the ISA also has time to consider how the benefits could be shared with the worlds lower-income nations. One idea is to create a sov
6、ereign wealth fund for the ocean, using income from mining areas that each licensee has to release back to the ISA for its “common heritage” goal. 现阶段许可证仅适用于研究，深海矿采活动还未受批准，ISA 仍有余力考量低收 入国家如何从中受益的斱案。斱案之一是成立一支海洋主权财富基金，基金来源则是 许可证持有者返还给ISA的矿区经济收益， 其目标仍然是为实现共享人类“共有遗产”。 “You could use it either to support
7、 underfunded global public goods, which could, for example, be marine scientific research,” says Michael Lodge, secretary-general of the ISA. “Or you could use it to combat global public bads - climate change, for example, by putting it into a climate change adaptation fund.” 国际海底管理局（ISA）秘书长 Michael
8、 Lodge 对此称：“基金的用途广泛，可以 赞助全球公共事业，比如海洋科研这种资金不足的活动。当然也可能用来对抗全球公 害问题，比如把资金投入气候变化适应基金。” This would only apply to profits from non-living resources, though: organisms in the Area arent covered by the ISA. These include “marine genetic resources” - the gene pool of the oceans, which has huge potential for
9、biotech and medical applications. 不过，国际海底管理局（ISA）对公海内的生物资源不具备管理权限，因此该斱案 仅包含从非生物性资源获取的收益。另一斱面，公海海域内的“海洋生物资源”对生物 技术与医学应用而言，无异于潜力巨大的海洋生物基因库。 Unlike deep-sea mining, exploiting marine genetic resources doesnt involve large-scale harvesting: a single specimen of an organism can provide a genome for that
10、species. So, sharing any benefits will depend on tracking biological samples and data collected from the high seas. 深海矿采需要大规模作业，海洋生物资源的开发则不一样采集单个生物标本 就足以研究该物种的基因组了。因此，生物性共有遗产的分享，取决于公海海域内能 追踪的生物样本及可回收的数据。 Some scientists think the idea of the high seas as a resource to be exploited is outdated. In re
11、cent years, environmental legislation in some countries has recognised that nature itself has rights: a few countries, such as New Zealand and India, have gone further and recognised rights for specific ecosystems such as rivers and mountains, making them legal entities akin to corporations or peopl
12、e. 有部分研究者认为，将公海视为可开发资源这一观念有些过时了。近年来，部分 国家在环境上立法认定“自然”本身具备“权利”；少数国家，包括新西兰及印度，迚一步 承认了河流山川等特定生态系统的权利，使之成为类似于公司和法人的法律实体。 A paper was published in June showing how this rights-of-nature paradigm could be used in developing a new treaty for ocean biodiversity. “These laws wouldnt preclude use of ocean resources, but they would really reinforce the principle of precaution.” They would also ensure that some benefits of exploitation flow back into ocean conservation. 今年 6 月发表的一篇论文探讨了如何将这种自然权利的范例用于制定新的海洋生 物多样性条约。“这类法律不排除对海洋资源的利用，但会切实加强防范原则的落实。” 同时，新的条约要确保开发海洋资源所得的收益能对海洋保护有所投入。
