Hello, and welcome to a special episode of Five Things.

I'm Elizabeth Weiss, a climate correspondent for USA Today, today at Sunday, August 6.

Some of the most precious resources today are battery metals used in producing green

energy, nickel, cobalt, and copper among them.

Today, humans have exploited nearly every available resource on the planet to mine them.

The last frontier?

The deep sea.

Much anticipated negotiations this July at the International Seabed Authority, an autonomous

international organization established by the UN, were expected to result in formal

rules for mining in the deep sea, but that didn't happen.

Instead, the Seabed Authority, or ISA, is pushing off the finalization of a regulatory framework

until at least 2025.

What's at stake here?

To learn more, I sat down with Dr. Diva Aemon.

A marine biologist who specializes in the little-known habitats and animals who live

in the deep ocean.

She's also a scientific advisor to the Benioff Ocean Science Laboratory at the University

of California, Santa Barbara.

Dr. Aemon, thanks for joining me.

Thank you so much for having me, Beth.

Pleasure to be here.

So, I want to start out asking what happened at ISA's recent meeting?

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