Norway defends deep-sea mining as a necessary step into the unknown

This makes the northern European country the first in the world to move forward with the process of extracting minerals from the seabed.

The Norwegian government said the practice could be one way to help facilitate the global transition away from fossil fuels, adding that every country should explore ways to sustainably harvest minerals and minerals at its disposal.

However, scientists have warned that it is difficult to predict the full environmental impacts of deep-sea mining, while environmental campaign groups have criticized the approval of what they called “Very devastatingA process that sends a “horrific signal” to the rest of the world.

Essential metals such as cobalt, nickel, copper and manganese can be found in potato-sized nodules on the sea floor. The end uses of these minerals – along with other strategic minerals and rare earth elements – are wide-ranging, and include electric vehicle batteries, wind turbines, and solar panels.

As a result, demand is growing rapidly. International Energy Agency Expect This trend will continue as the pace of transition to clean energy increases, noting that demand for cobalt and nickel jumped by 70% and 40%, respectively, between 2017 and 2022.

“Today, we are almost dependent on Russia and China and we have to diversify the production of the global supply chain of minerals around the world,” Norwegian Energy Minister Terje Aasland told CNBC via video.

“We've been looking at seabed mineral opportunities for a long time. We have a really reliable tradition of how to use resources on the Norwegian continental shelf. We do it sustainably and we do it step by step.”

As part of the rapid rise in demand for vital minerals, the International Energy Agency has done so to caution The supply today falls short of what is needed to transform the energy sector. This is because there is a relatively high geographic concentration of production of many energy transition elements.

Most of the rare earth reserves are Located in ChinaFor example, while Vietnam, Brazil and Russia are also major rare earth countries based on reserve size.

The Norwegian parliamentary decision paves the way for companies to apply for mining in its national waters near the Svalbard archipelago. The area that is part of Norway's extended seafloor shelf is estimated It is approximately 280,000 square kilometers (108,108 square miles) larger than the United Kingdom.

The Norwegian government does not intend to immediately begin mineral exploration. Instead, companies will need to submit proposals for licenses that will be voted on on a case-by-case basis in Parliament.

Aasland said the first commercial licenses to explore the seabed could be issued “possibly next year,” but a license to extract these minerals would likely not be issued this decade.

The approval for deep-sea mining puts Norway at odds with both the UK and the European Commission, the EU's executive arm, which have pushed for a temporary ban over environmental concerns.

In response to the criticism, Norwegian Aasland said that the result of the vote will help lawmakers better understand whether searching for minerals on the seabed can be done in a sustainable way.

“One of the main issues in the debate is that we don't have enough knowledge to decide whether we can go about extracting these minerals – and I completely agree,” Aasland said.

“We have to collect more information before we can make a decision about extracting these minerals. That's the point of this opening. It's not the same as approving extraction.”

Anne-Sophie Roux, head of deep-sea mining in Europe at the Sustainable Ocean Alliance, said Norway's decision to give the green light to commercial deep-sea mining is “irresponsible” and “puts a nail in the coffin” of the country's declared role as a climate leader.

“The goal of any exploration activities should be to better understand the scale of the environmental threats that deep-sea mining poses — not to justify a practice that we know will have widespread negative impacts on marine life and the health of the planet,” Rowe told CNBC via email. .

Marine ecosystems are Didn't understand well. Activists fear that deep-sea exploration and exploitation activities could permanently alter a known unique habitat – Many of them are not yet known – Classify.

“The argument put forward by the Norwegian government – ​​and the deep-sea mining industry – that ‘deep-sea mining can be done in a sustainable way’ runs counter to the large consensus in the scientific literature,” Roe said.

“There is no way to sustainably explore the deep sea in today's day and age, as this will inevitably lead to ecosystem destruction, species extinction, various sources of pollution and disruption of ocean eco-climatic services.”

Maria Varterisyan, Norway's deputy foreign minister, said the Scandinavian country takes its reputation as a sustainable ocean nation “very seriously”, which is the case when considering whether seabed minerals could play a role in the energy transition.

“No exploitation activity has been initiated. The main reason for that as I already said is the huge knowledge gaps that need to be filled before any activity can be considered. This is important,” Varterisyan told CNBC's “Squawk Box Europe” in January. 24.

“Regardless of views on onshore and offshore mining activities, minerals will be a critical component of new energy systems, so the key question is not whether we need minerals or not, the important question is can we produce them in a sustainable way?”