{"id":1285,"date":"2024-01-17T03:59:00","date_gmt":"2024-01-17T03:59:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/arcticwatch.info\/?p=1285"},"modified":"2024-04-14T23:26:36","modified_gmt":"2024-04-14T23:26:36","slug":"norway-approves-deep-sea-mining-in-arctic-ocean","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/arcticwatch.info\/index.php\/2024\/01\/17\/norway-approves-deep-sea-mining-in-arctic-ocean\/","title":{"rendered":"Norway approves deep sea mining in valuable Arctic Ocean"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\"Norway<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Norway\u2019s parliament\u00a0approved on Tuesday<\/a>\u00a0commercial plans to open the Arctic Ocean to seabed mineral exploration, despite environmental groups and the fishing industry\u2019s warnings that the move would put the biodiversity of vulnerable ecosystems at risk.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"\/<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

The bill, voted in 80-20 by lawmakers, allows the exploration of around 280,000 sq km (108,000 sq m) of Arctic seabed, an area bigger than the size of the United Kingdom, between Norway and Greenland.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It is anticipated that an agreement on deep-sea mining in international waters could follow later in the year.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The move by the European country, where vast oil and gas reserves have made it one of the world\u2019s wealthiest nations, aims to diversify its economy away from fossil fuels.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But it puts the country at odds with the EU and the UK, which have called for a temporary ban on the practice because of concerns about environmental effects.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe\u2019ve mapped vast areas in the northern Norwegian Sea since 2017. We\u2019ve taken samples and collected data about minerals and metals found on the seabed,\u201d the government said in a statement. \u201cWe\u2019ve done this by means of our own expeditions, and also in cooperation with expert communities from universities.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Norwegian continental shelf contains sulfide crusts, which may hold as much as 45 million tonnes of zinc. Manganese crusts, also present, may have around 3 million metric tonnes of cobalt, according to a white paper<\/a> released by the government last June.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Critics were quick to react. Greenpeace called it \u201ca shameful day\u201d for Norway. \u201cIt is embarrassing to watch Norway positioning itself as an ocean leader while giving the green light to ocean destruction in Arctic waters,\u201d said Frode Pleym, head of Greenpeace Norway. \u201cBut this doesn\u2019t end here. The wave of protests against deep sea mining has only begun.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cBlack mark\u201d on Norway\u2019s reputation<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Kaja L\u00f8nne Fj\u00e6rtoft, global policy lead for WWF\u2019s No Deep Seabed Mining Initiative, said the organization was drawing a \u201csmall glimmer of hope\u201d from the fact that extraction licences would still need parliamentary approval, an amendment added after strong international pushback.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Environmental Justice Foundation (EJF) said the decision, would act as \u201can irrevocable black mark on Norway\u2019s reputation as a responsible ocean state\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Analysts highlight the risk of geopolitical tension in Europe\u2019s northern and baltic regions. The area Norway has opened up to exploration<\/a>, in the Barents Sea and Greenland Sea, is near the Arctic islands of the Svalbard archipelago. Oslo claims it has the sole right to mine in this area, but Russia and the European Union dispute this claim.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

According to the nation\u2019s Ministry of Petroleum and Energy, the 280,000km2 (108,000 sq miles) along the mid-Atlantic Ridge, contains volcanic springs that surge from the Earth\u2019s crust. They are believed to host an estimated 38 million tonnes of copper\u2014more than the world\u2019s approximate annual copper production.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A government-sponsored survey also found rare earth elements in polymetallic sulphides, or so-called \u201cblack smokers\u201d, nearly 3,000 metres (9,842 feet) deep.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

While international rules for seabed mineral extraction are yet to be set, Norway doesn\u2019t need to wait, because it plans to search for minerals on its extended continental shelf.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Proponents of deep sea mining argue that extracting raw materials from the seafloor will enable a faster transition to a low-carbon economy and could come at a lower environmental cost than terrestrial mining.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Scientists say very little is still known about the depths of the world\u2019s oceans \u2014 only a small fraction<\/a> of which humans have explored \u2014 and many are concerned about the impacts on these ecosystems already affected by pollution, trawling and the climate crisis.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Norway\u2019s parliament\u00a0approved commercial plans to open the Arctic Ocean to seabed mineral exploration.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":1286,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"rop_custom_images_group":[],"rop_custom_messages_group":[],"rop_publish_now":"initial","rop_publish_now_accounts":[],"rop_publish_now_history":[],"rop_publish_now_status":"pending","_themeisle_gutenberg_block_has_review":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1285","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-industry"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/arcticwatch.info\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1285","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/arcticwatch.info\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/arcticwatch.info\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/arcticwatch.info\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/arcticwatch.info\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1285"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/arcticwatch.info\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1285\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1672,"href":"https:\/\/arcticwatch.info\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1285\/revisions\/1672"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/arcticwatch.info\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1286"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/arcticwatch.info\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1285"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/arcticwatch.info\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1285"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/arcticwatch.info\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1285"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}