Norway’s parliament backs deep-sea mining plans

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Norway has secured a parliamentary majority for its plans to open up for deep-sea mining despite opposition from environmentalists and the fishing industry, who warn the move risks further damage to fragile oceans.

The country’s minority centre-left government on Tuesday said it had won the support of the two main opposition centre-right parties for deep-sea mining exploration but that there would be tough environmental criteria to proceed with any extraction.

“The renewable green industries run on minerals. This is an important contribution internationally,” said Bård Ludvig Thorheim, an MP from the main opposition Conservatives.

But the decision by Norway, western Europe’s largest petroleum producer, drew fierce criticism from environmentalists as the Nordic country aims to become the first in the world to conduct deep-sea mining on a commercial scale.

“This is the biggest disgrace in Norway’s management of the oceans in modern times, and the final nail in the coffin for Norway’s reputation as a responsible maritime nation,” said Karoline Andaur, chief executive of wildlife campaign group WWF Norway.

Oslo’s plans could also generate geopolitical tensions. The area it proposes to open up to exploration, in the Barents Sea and Greenland Sea, is close to Svalbard, the Norwegian archipelago in the Arctic. Norway believes it has exclusive mining rights off the Arctic islands, a position disputed by Russia, the EU and UK.

Sea beds in Norway and elsewhere are thought to contain vast deposits of minerals needed for electric batteries, wind turbines and other green industries, including copper, cobalt and rare earth metals such as neodymium and dysprosium.

But the plans are deeply controversial, with companies such as Google, BMW, Samsung and Volvo Group signing a WWF call for a stop to deep-sea mining. Environmentalists say that the consequences of extraction on the seabed are unknown but are likely to damage fragile marine ecosystems.

Greenpeace released a video late last week showing deep-sea miners using hoses to target activists who were trying to stop exploration in the Pacific Ocean between Mexico and Hawaii. The Metals Company, the group behind the exploration, said the environmental campaign organisation was attempting to decide the fate of deep-sea mining instead of allowing evidence to be gathered on its environmental impact.

Miners operating in other countries, including China, Papua New Guinea, the Cook Islands, Japan and New Zealand, have been looking at how to extract metals from coastal waters.

Norway plans to open up about 280,000 sq km — an area just smaller than Italy — for exploration. Any extraction would take place only with parliamentary approval, similar to the country’s regime for oil and gas.

The government has presented the proposal as a “responsible and sustainable” attempt to extract crucial minerals to reduce reliance on China in the supply chain of many green industries.

Norway’s own environment agency has opposed the plans because of “significant and irreversible consequences for the marine environment”, while the UK and Norwegian fishing industries have criticised the idea.

But the proposal was welcomed by Norway’s offshore oil and gas industry, which said that deep-sea mining could provide alternative jobs as petroleum activities wind down.