Norway’s Deep-Sea Mining Decision Is a Warning

Yet with parliament having made its decision, the time for a comprehensive study of environmental impacts has likely now passed, says Johansen..

Disturbing the seafloor could lead to plumes of sediment rising through the water column, which could disturb sea life for hundreds of kilometers, impacting Norways neighborssuch as Iceland, Greenland, and the Faroe Islandsas well as the Arctic more broadly...

The Norwegian decision doesnt allow for mining on active smokers, but scientists say it is hard to draw a distinction on which ones are active, says Haldis Tjeldflaat Helle, who campaigns against deep-sea mining at Greenpeaces Norway office...

The decision means states like Russia and China have both precedent and intent to point to in establishing their own deep-sea mining practices, she says.. Plus, about one-third of the area Norway has opened up overlaps with the continental shelf and fishery protection zone around the Svalbard archipelago..

Norway claims it only extends to the Svalbard territorial waters, 12 nautical miles off the islands coasts, whereas others, such as the Netherlands, maintain the treaty should cover the archipelagos exclusive economic zone, which is 200 nautical miles off its coastthis would be in keeping with the UN Convention of the Law of the Seas, says Johansen..

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