Norway’s Deep-Sea Mining Decision Is a Warning

The decision is a historic event: While some exploration has taken place in international waters in the Pacific, Norway is the first country to open its continental shelf up to deep-sea mining..

Norways government argues that deep-sea mining is crucial for the worlds energy transition, as it could dramatically increase the supply of critical minerals needed for the shift toward electrification, such as cobalt and copper..

The decision may tend to legitimize the deep-sea mining industry, says Ida Soltvedt Hvinden, who studies maritime and Arctic politics at the Fridtjof Nansen Institute in Norway..

Many states view Norway as a sustainable manager of its ocean areas, so what Norway practices and allows in terms of ocean industry is important, she says.. The Norwegian government recognizes that it cant be sure any mining would be sustainableits not been able to determine the likely environmental impact of extracting minerals in its waters, nor exactly what minerals are there to be found..

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..

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