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Knowledge about deepsea creatures that could be affected by mining is limited
Item information
- Author: Esme Stallard
- Role: Climate and science reporter at BBC News
2 hours ago
A bill passed on Tuesday (January 9) will speed up the search for precious metals, which are in high demand in green technology projects.
But environmental scientists warn that this type of mining could have devastating consequences for marine life.
The plan concerns Norwegian waters, but an agreement on mining in international waters could also be reached this year.
The Norwegian government says it is cautious and will not begin issuing licenses until additional environmental studies have been carried out.
The seafloor is home to potatosized rocks called nodules and crusts, which contain minerals such as lithium, scandium and cobalt essential for clean technologies such as batteries.
Norway's proposal will open 280,000 km² of its national waters to companies that can bid to explore these resources an area larger than the size of the United Kingdom.
Although these minerals are available on land, they are concentrated in a few countries, increasing the risk of shortages.
For example, the Democratic Republic of Congo, which has some of the largest cobalt reserves, is facing conflict in some parts of the country.
Walter Sognnes, cofounder of Norwegian mining company Loke Minerals, which plans to apply for a license, admits more needs to be done to understand the depths of the ocean before mining begins.
“We will have a relatively long period of exploration and mapping activities to close the knowledge gap on environmental impacts.” [da mineração em águas profundas]”Sognines told the BBC.
Martin Webeler, marine conservation activist and researcher at the Foundation for Environmental Justice, said the plan would be “catastrophic” for ocean habitat.
“The Norwegian government has always emphasized that it wants to implement the highest environmental standards,” he says.
“It’s hypocrisy to ignore all scientific advice.”
Webeler says mining companies should focus on preventing environmental damage in their current operations rather than creating an entirely new industry.
Possible environmental damage
The move puts the country at odds with the European Union and the United Kingdom, which have called for a temporary ban on the practice due to concerns about environmental damage.
According to the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), techniques to exploit deepsea minerals can result in significant noise and light pollution, as well as damage to the habitat of organisms that rely on the nodules.
In November, 120 EU members published an open letter calling on the Norwegian Parliament to reject the project due to “the risk of this activity to marine biodiversity and the acceleration of climate change.”
The letter also states that the impact assessment carried out by Norway has many gaps.
The Norwegian government continues to face resistance from its own experts. The Norwegian Institute for Marine Research (IMR) says the government took assumptions from a small research area and applied them to the entire area planned for drilling.
The institute believes another five to 10 years of research into the impacts on species will be needed.
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Environmentalists fear that whale species such as the humpback whale could be disrupted by deepsea mining
Caution
The Norwegian government will not immediately allow companies to start drilling. They must submit proposals, including environmental impact assessments. Each license is approved by Parliament on a casebycase basis.
Marianne Sivertsen Næss, chair of the Standing Committee on Energy and Environment, which reviewed the original plan, told the BBC that the Norwegian government was taking a “preventive approach to mineral activities.”
“We currently do not have the necessary knowledge to extract minerals from the seabed in the necessary way,” said Næss.
“The government's proposal to open an area of activity allows private actors to explore the areas in question and acquire knowledge and data from them. Opening areas is not the same as authorizing the extraction of minerals from the seabed,” he added.
Loke Minerals' Sognnes adds that the government's plan brings muchneeded private sector investment into deepsea environment exploration.
“Developing knowledge in the depths of the ocean is very expensive. You have to operate robots, which is very expensive and unfortunately universities have limited access to such tools,” he says.
The executive estimates that funding would not begin until the early 2030s.
Mineral recycling
Environmentalists argue that more investment should be made in recycling and reusing minerals already extracted from the earth.
The Environmental Justice Foundation estimates in a report that 16,000 tons of cobalt per year, about 10% of annual production, could be recovered through better cell phone collection and recycling.
Although Norway's proposal only affects its national waters, negotiations continue on the possible granting of licenses in international waters
The International Seabed Authority (ISA) a United Nationsaffiliated body will meet this year to try to finalize the rules. A final vote is planned for 2025.
More than 30 countries are in favor of a temporary ban, but countries like China are keen to continue exploration.