The Norwegian Parliament (Storting) has endorsed the government’s proposal to open up an area of 281,200 km² around the Arctic archipelago of Svalbard, making Norway the first country in the world to move forward with the controversial practice of commercial-scale deepsea mining.  

Sourcing supplies of critical minerals such as copper, manganese, cobalt and lithium has become increasingly important to Europe and other western countries, as they are currently primarily mined in a just a few countries, such as the Democratic Republic of Congo, China, and Russia, where supply chains have become increasingly volatile.

However, maritime scientists and researchers have warned that deepsea mining for such critical minerals could be devastating for marine life due to environmental, light and noise pollution, and damage to habitat. Norway’s announcement has been denounced by environmental organisations, who suggest it would be better to focus on preventing environmental damage at current mining operations rather than opening up a whole new industry sector, and also to increase investment in recycling and reuse of existing mined minerals.  

According to the BBC, the move puts Norway at odds with the European Union and the UK, among others, which have called for a temporary ban on the practice because of concerns about environmental damage. It also says the Norwegian government has faced pushback from its own experts, as well as internationally, with the Norway Institute of Marine Research (IMR) suggesting that the government had made assumptions from a small area of research and applied it to the whole area planned for drilling, and stating that a further five to 10 years of research into impacts on species was needed.

Companies will not be able to start drilling immediately, however, but will have to submit proposals, including environmental assessments, for a licence which will then be approved on a case-by-case basis by the Norwegian Storting.