Norway has closed the door to deep-sea mining in its waters until at least 2029, stopping an industry that had been on the cusp of launching in spite the environmental risks it presented.
On Dec. 3, Norway’s five political parties supporting the new government debated the fiscal budget. They agreed that the government would not launch the first round of deep-sea mineral licensing, which had been tentatively set for 2026. The parties also decided to cut public funding for state-led seabed mineral mapping efforts.
Two days later, on Dec. 5, the decision to pause deep-sea mining efforts was officially voted on in parliament, reversing the previous decision to push forward with the industry.
Lars Haltbrekken, a member of the Norwegian parliament for the Socialist Left Party, said he was satisfied with the decision. The Socialist Left Party played a major role last year in stopping the previously planned deep-sea mining licensing round.
“I’m happy that we managed to stop it again, and I hope that we now have stopped it for good,” Haltbrekken told Mongabay. “The reason is that there are huge environmental risks by starting deep-sea mining.”
Snorre Erichsen Skjevrak, a state secretary for the Norwegian Ministry of Energy, which was overseeing deep-sea mining plans, acknowledged the pause but said the “budget agreement is a political compromise that does not affect the regulatory framework or management strategy for seabed minerals.”
“Our policy is unchanged,” Skjevrak told Mongabay in an email. “Our objective is to facilitate the possibility of future, profitable and sustainable extraction of seabed minerals, in line with the management strategy previously adopted by the Norwegian Parliament.”
However, environmental advocates are celebrating the pause on deep-sea mining.
“This is a historic victory for the deep sea,” Truls Gulowsen, leader of the Norwegian Society for the Conservation of Nature and Friends of the Earth Norway, said in a statement. “With this victory, we have averted a natural disaster before it even started.”
Haldis Tjeldflaat Helle, who campaigns against deep-sea mining for Greenpeace Nordic, said she believes “the 4-year pause is very likely to be extended.”
“Deep-sea mining is not a winning issue in Norwegian politics,” Helle told Mongabay in a message, “and I cannot imagine any political party coming back in 2029 eager to spend political capital on pushing forward this industry.”
Anette Broch Mathisen Tvedt, the CEO of Adepth, a Norwegian company that was planning to mine the deep sea in the near future, told Mongabay in an email the decision showed “how challenging it is to build new industry in Norway based on natural resources.” She said her company would turn its “attention to international opportunities with similar resources and predictable regulatory frameworks.”
Countries such as the U.S. and Japan appear to be pressing ahead with deep-sea mining plans.
Banner image: A killer whale (Orcinus orca) in 2021 off the coast of Norway. Image by GRID-Arendal via Flickr (CC BY-NC-SA 2.0).
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