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Norway’s Deep-Sea Mining Decision Is a Warning
Politicians claim the move could provide vital minerals for the green transition. Critics say opening up exploration creates geopolitical headaches and is environmentally unsound.
Norway’s government argues that deep-sea mining is crucial for the world’s energy transition, as it could dramatically increase the supply of critical minerals needed for the shift toward electrification, such as cobalt and copper. Anne-Sophie Roux, an activist who leads the campaign in Europe against deep-sea mining for the NGO the Sustainable Ocean Alliance, called the outcome of the vote a “half victory.” The decision does not give a go-ahead for exploitation activities; it for now only opens up a path to exploration, which is by nature less intrusive. “There is a long way ahead, and it is by no means certain that Norway will ever grant permission for the extraction of seabed minerals,” says Marianne Sivertsen Næss, a member of the Norwegian Parliament and chair of its Standing Committee on Energy and the Environment.
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