Norway has temporarily paused its plans to mine the Arctic seabed, following an agreement with the Socialist Left Party (SV). This small environmentalist party negotiated the delay in exchange for supporting the national budget.
The Norwegian government had planned to issue its first deep-sea mining licenses in early 2025 but will now focus on conducting further environmental impact assessments and refining regulatory frameworks. “This is a postponement, not an end to the process,” stated Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Støre of the Labour Party.
The decision led to a sharp market reaction, with shares of Green Minerals, a Norwegian seabed mining startup, plummeting 40% to €0.32 on Monday. Despite the setback, the company expects to begin ore extraction by the late 2020s.
Norway made headlines in January by becoming the first country to open its waters to commercial deep-sea mining, approving exploration across 280,000 square km of Arctic seabed. However, environmentalists, including the World Wildlife Fund (WWF), celebrated the pause as a victory, arguing that Norway failed to adequately study the ecological consequences.
While proponents of deep-sea mining highlight its potential to secure essential rare earth minerals like nickel, manganese, and copper for the green energy transition, critics warn of the unexplored risks to fragile marine ecosystems. The International Energy Agency (IEA) projects that demand for these metals will rise sharply by 2040, driven by clean energy technologies.
Globally, the International Seabed Authority (ISA) has issued 32 contracts for seabed exploration, including projects by Canada’s The Metals Company (TMC), which plans to mine the Pacific Ocean’s Clarion-Clipperton Zone by 2025. Incoming ISA leader Leticia Carvalho, the first scientist and woman to head the body, has cautioned that more time is needed to establish robust protections for deep-sea ecosystems.
