ISA's 'precautionary approach' in regulating deep-sea mining requires that lack of full scientific certainty about environmental impacts shall not be used as a reason for postponing _____ measures to prevent serious or irreversible harm to the marine environment.
- reactive
- cost-effective
- preventive
- compensatory
Answer: preventive
The precautionary approach, embedded in UNCLOS and ISA regulations, prioritizes environmental protection amid scientific uncertainty. It mandates rigorous environmental impact assessments, monitoring, adaptive management, and conservative exploitation thresholds to safeguard deep-sea ecosystems for future generations.