We are already in a climate and nature crisis: deep sea mining is totally unacceptable. Moreover, what happens in the Arctic never stays in the Arctic: this region is the air conditioner of the planet and we desperately need it<\/a>. <\/p>\n\n\n\n A rich and unique animal life has evolved slowly in the deep sea, over millions of years. Scientists even believe<\/a> this is where we can find clues to the origin of life on Earth.<\/p>\n\n\n\n This ecosystem is very vulnerable to disturbance, and scientists warn that mining would cause irreversible damage to the ocean and the species that live there. Hundreds of marine scientists have warned<\/a> it risks huge damage and are showing increasing concern about the potential impacts on the oceans\u2019 capacity to act as carbon sinks if full-scale commercial mining would go ahead.<\/p>\n\n\n\n In addition, mining can negatively affect coastal communities, particularly those dependent on fishing, and could have an impact on the natural process of storing carbon in the seabed. Alarmed governments, led by Palau, Chile and France, have\u00a0demanded<\/a>\u00a0a moratorium, citing the potential ecological damage of deep sea mining.<\/p>\n\n\n\n On the Arctic seabed, deep sea mining would involve ripping up the thick, rocky crust of the seabed itself, called manganese crusts. These crusts are up to 40 centimeters thick<\/a>, and each centimeter of thickness is believed to have taken one million years to build up<\/a>. In the Pacific Ocean, where deep sea mining is also being pushed (including by a Norwegian company), it would involve extracting polymetallic nodules (brown-black lumps containing several different minerals, usually the size of a potato, that are a vital part of the deep sea habitat<\/a>). These nodules are sucked up to a receiving vessel on the surface through a pipe several thousand meters long<\/a>. Sewage and rock fragments are then discharged into the sea<\/a>, resulting in huge underwater clouds of sediment,<\/a> which in themselves risk suffocating<\/a> wildlife.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The noise and light pollution from the machines could disturb and impact the wildlife in the sea<\/a>, even in shallow water. Water conducts sound very well \u2013 the noise travels hundreds of kilometers through the water<\/a>, and can be particularly harmful to marine mammals,<\/a> such as whales and dolphins.<\/p>\n\n\n\n A successful just transition must not perpetuate the same extractivist model that has driven climate change. Minerals and metals for the green shift should be obtained from consumption reduction and better reuse of materials, not from the ocean depths, where brutal mining can cause irreparable damage to nature, like it already does on land. We need to push the Norwegian government to give up its plan to start deep sea mining in the Arctic. To achieve this, Greenpeace International started by sending a direct message to the Norwegian Prime Minister while he was in New York, at a meeting where governments are signing the Global Ocean Treaty including Norway. It didn\u2019t stop here, as Greenpeace Nordic activists confronted the Norwegian Prime Minister and his Labour party colleagues with a giant purple octopus, during the Labour party\u2019s National Board meeting in the very center of Oslo.<\/p>\n\n\n\n![\"Activists](\"https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/static\/planet4-international-stateless\/2023\/09\/be173133-gp0stxta4-1024x683.jpg\" "\\"Activists")
Life in the deep sea and in coastal communities is vulnerable<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Bulldozers on the seabed is a bad idea<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Deep sea minerals is not a solution<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
At the same time as Norway wants to open up mining operations on the seabed, opposition to the industry is increasing internationally. The EU has called on member states to refrain from mining on the seabed<\/a> in their own sea areas. Sweden and Finland recently said no to mining on the seabed until there is more knowledge about the consequences.
Large international companies<\/a> such as Google, BMW Group, Volvo and Samsung have said they would not use materials mined from the seafloor in their products and are calling for a moratorium<\/a>. In addition, the European Investment Bank (EIB) has excluded seabed mining from its portfolio for climate and environmental reasons.\u200b\u200b<\/p>\n\n\n\nWhat can we do to help stop deep sea mining in Norway?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
![\"Deep](\"https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/static\/planet4-international-stateless\/2023\/09\/f0a04452-gp0stxpm0-1024x684.jpg\" "\\"Deep")