The Future of Ocean Exploration presented by New Scientist

The deep ocean is more accessible than ever before. This opens up the exciting prospect of new scientific discoveries from amazing marine creatures to the potential origins of life. At the same time, there are increasing political and economic pressures to extract resources like fish or critical minerals from the ocean floor. This panel will discuss what the future holds for the depths of our oceans, including the implementation of the High Seas Treaty, the march toward deep‑sea mining and the cutting of national research budgets. What will these changes mean for the future of ocean science, exploration and the sustainable management of the planet's last true wilderness?