Expert Seabed Minerals Licensing Panel appointed
The Prime Minister and Minister responsible for Seabed Minerals (SBM), Hon. Mark Brown is pleased to announce the appointment of the SBM Licensing Panel (Licensing Panel). The role of the Licensing Panel is to evaluate applications for exploration licenses and recommend to the Minister whether to grant or decline the applications.
The Licensing Panel is made up of experts with at least 10 years experience in related SBM fields including: Environment, Legal, Finance, Engineering, Maritime, and Extractives, and includes a Government representative.
The Licensing Panel members are:
Garth Henderson (Chair, Government Expert)
30+ Years Experience
Expertise in finance, project management, maritime law enforcement, and international regional arrangements.
Pamela Maru (Maritime Expert)
20+ Years Experience
Expertise in marine science, ecosystem and marine resource management, fisheries compliance and enforcement, and international fisheries negotiations.
Chris Brown (Finance & Legal Expert)
25+ Years Experience
Expertise in commercial, corporate tax, legal and financial exposure and SBM law.
Hannah Lily (Legal Expert)
20+ Years Experience
Expertise in SBM law, other extractive industry licensing regimes, technical advisory and public administrative law.
Malcolm Clark (Environmental Expert)
35+ years experience
Expertise in fisheries and benthic ecology, deep water fisheries and ecosystems.
Alison Swaddling (Environmental Expert)
15+ years experience
Expertise in ocean governance, policy, legislation and regulation development and environmental management of their marine resources.
Richard Johnson (Environmental Expert)
30+ years experience
Expertise in environmental management, policy and regulation development, implementing high level and detailed strategies, plans.
Darryl Thorburn (Extractives Expert)
45+ years experience
Expertise in upstream minerals and petroleum sector both in exploration and mining geology in New Zealand, Australia, South Africa, UK the Middle East and the Pacific Regions.
Akuila Tawake (Extractives Expert)
25+ Years Experience
Expertise in geology, extensive experience also in the mining industry, providing technical advise on DSM development.
Andrew Lipman (Engineering & Maritime Expert)
20+ Years Experience
Expertise in current technologies in the field of offshore minerals, and oil and gas extraction, and in marine safety and regulatory compliance.
Following his appointment of the Licensing Panel, Prime Minister Brown stated "The calibre of our expert Licensing Panel is world class. It includes members who are well recognised SBM experts and who are also familiar with the Cook Islands SBM resource and context. The Cook Islands is building a world leading SBM sector, and this Panel is reflective of that.”
The Prime Minister also appointed Garth Henderson, Financial Secretary for the Ministry of Finance and Economic Management, as Chair of the Licensing Panel.
Upon his appointment Henderson noted “I am pleased to see that capable Cook Islanders continue to take leading a role in our SBM endeavours. I am very honored to have the opportunity to chair this important body, and I look forward to working with the Panel members to ensure a robust process is followed, and that the recommendations made are in the best interests of the Cook Islands”.
The factors the Licensing Panel will consider in deciding whether to recommend the Minister to grant or decline the applications include (but are not limited to):
The applicant's exploration work plans' adequacy in assessing the nodule resource and gathering enough baseline environmental data to guide future environmental impact assessments;
The applicant’s competence, technology, and knowledge, as well as the financial resources, to carry out their proposed exploratory operations;
Whether applicants have in place the policies and processes necessary to perform their explorations safely, responsibly, and in compliance with Cook Islands laws
How the Cook Islands will benefit from their exploration activities
The appointment of the Licensing Panel followed a robust process as set out under the SBM Act 2019 (Act). A Selection Panel was first established, to make recommendations to the Minister on who to appoint from a list of potential candidates provided by the Seabed Minerals Authority (Authority). The Selection Panel included: Catherine Evans nominated by the Cook Islands Law Society; David Street nominated by the Cook Islands Chamber of Commerce; Anand Naidu nominated by the Cook Islands Accountants Group; and Ben Ponia from the Office of the Prime Minister.
The Selection Panel deliberating over Licensing Panel candidates, with the Authority providing secretariat services.
The list of potential candidates was extensive, “We considered other Cook Islands and international SBM experts in putting together the list of potential candidates” said Authority Licensing and Compliance Director Derek Johnson, “However, due to conflicts of interests or in some cases inadequate SBM expertise, some names were removed from consideration. Ultimately, the Authority is very pleased with this current Licensing Panel, and there will be an opportunity to revisit its composition in the future”.
With the appointment of the expert Licensing Panel, all of the bodies under the Act are now established. Aside from the Authority, the other body is the SBM Advisory Committee, which is made up of community leaders and is chaired by Bishop Tutai Pere.
Currently, the Authority is in the process of obtaining due diligence assessments on the four applications. These will be used to help assess whether the applications meet the criteria in the Act and can progress to the Licensing Panel for their evaluation. The Authority will notify the public of the applications proceeding to the next stage which the public will have the opportunity to comment on. The comments received from the public will also be referred to the Licensing Panel as part of the evaluation process. During the public notification period the Authority will also receive comments from Crown Agencies and undertake consultations with the National Environment Service. The Licensing Panel will then convene to review the applications and make their recommendations to the Minister to complete the evaluation process.
Queries on this release may be directed to Communications Officer Dede Mingi: [email protected]