The mobilization will have had no effect. Since December 4, 2023, more than half a million people have signed a petition posted online by the NGO Avaaz calling on the Norwegian government to abandon its plan to authorize seabed mining. A few weeks earlier, on November 9, around a hundred MEPs called on their Norwegian colleagues to “vote against the government’s proposal and support the adoption of an international moratorium on deep-sea mining.”
Neither the countless columns published by scientists warning of the still little-known risks to ecosystems, nor the demonstration organized by several environmental groups on Tuesday, January 9th in front of the parliament in Oslo have changed anything. In the afternoon, eighty to twenty MPs voted in favor of the government's proposal, which could ultimately make Norway the first country in the world to commercially exploit the mineral resources on its mainland.
The acceptance of the text is no surprise. On December 5, 2023, the ruling Social Democrats and Centrists agreed with the two largest opposition parties, the Conservative Party and the Progressive Party, to authorize mining development on an area of 281,000 km² (equivalent to 70% of the surface of Norway), which is from the Barents Sea extends to the Spitsbergen archipelago. However, the text stipulates that Parliament must vote again to authorize the exploitation.
Also read: Norway opens its seabed to mining, a “disgrace” for Greenpeace
A very controversial decision
“Production will only be approved if future evidence shows that it can be carried out in a sustainable and responsible manner, and after the government presents an updated knowledge base on the deep-sea environment,” assured the then Conservative MP Bard Ludvig Thorheim, while oil and energy minister Terje Aasland promised to “proceed with caution step by step”.
To defend this highly controversial decision, the four parties emphasize the necessity of minerals for the successful completion of the ecological transition and the importance of ensuring Europe's strategic autonomy. According to an estimate by the Oil Directorate in Oslo, the seabed off the coast of Norway could contain up to 45 million tons of zinc, 38 million tons of copper, as well as enormous amounts of other metals and rare earths.
You still have 60% of this article left to read. The rest is reserved for subscribers.