Written by Gwladys Fouche and Nerijus Adomaitis
OSLO (Reuters) – Norway's small left-wing environmental party succeeded on Sunday in blocking an Arctic seabed mining project, demanding the government cancel the first round of approvals in exchange for budgetary support.
“We are canceling plans to start mining on the seabed,” Kirsti Bergstow, leader of the SV party, which is outside the ruling coalition but supports a minority government, told reporters.
The government, which had planned to award the first deep-sea mining exploration permit in the first half of 2025, said the plan had been scrapped but preparatory work, including establishing regulations and mapping environmental impacts, would continue.
“This will be postponed,” Labor Prime Minister Jonas Gare Storey told commercial broadcaster TV2.
Norway, whose vast hydrocarbon reserves have made it one of the world's wealthiest countries, has played a leading role in the global race to mine the seabed for metals in high demand as we move away from fossil fuels.
“This is a decisive victory in the fight against deep-sea mining. It should put the nail in the coffin for a destructive industry,” Greenpeace Norway representative Frode Plaem told Reuters.
Oslo plans to open up large swaths of the Arctic region next year for its first undersea licensing round, despite opposition from environmental campaigners and a coalition of 32 countries including Germany, France, Canada and Brazil. Ta.
The deal signed on Sunday by SV and the government of Labor and the Center for Agriculture means the planned approval round will not go ahead.
Norwegians head to the polls in September, and the two opposition parties leading in the polls, the Conservative Party and the Progressive Party, are in favor of deep-sea mining.
“If the new government attempts to restart the authorization round, we will oppose it relentlessly,” Greenpeace's Plame said.
Preliminary official resource estimates released by the government in 2023 show “substantial” accumulations of metals and minerals ranging from copper to rare earths, it said.
At least three Norwegian seabed mineral startups – Stavanger-based Loke, Oslo-based Green Minerals and Bergen-based A Depth – had previously said they planned to bid for the first licensing round. .
Both companies could not be reached for comment.
(Reporting by Gwladys Fouche and Nerijus Adomaitis vtin Oslo; Editing by Peter Graff)
