Oil and Energy Minister Terje Aasland presented in October an impact assessment to open large parts of the shelf for mining. – It depends that extraction can take place in a profitable way and with an acceptable degree of environmental impact, this can become an exciting new industry, said the minister. The background for the initiative is the green shift, which requires a lot of metal. Among the proven minerals in Norwegian waters are lead, manganese, iron, titanium, zinc, copper, cobalt and nickel. A report from Rystad Energy says that these can provide up to NOK 180 billion in annual income and 21,000 jobs. A robot works at an underwater volcano approximately 1,000 km west of Bergen. Beneath the volcanoes there can be minerals worth several billion kroner. Photo: KG Jebsen center for deep sea research / UiB The report is now due for consultation, but several critical voices have already come forward. – The government should stop this process, says the leader of Framtida i være hans, Anja Bakken Riise. She adds: – It is disturbing that, after destroying so much of nature on land, we go on to destroy even more of nature at sea. The Minister of Oil and Energy replies – The impact assessment that we are now sending to consultation is a compilation of the current knowledge base. The analysis of consequences, together with the hearing recordings, will form an important part of the basis for decision when we have to decide on the question of opening. The fact that the impact assessment is now being sent for consultation does not mean that, as of today, we believe we have sufficient knowledge to be able to approve concrete extraction projects. – Opening up the proposed area for activity is nevertheless decisive in order to start exploration activity and further knowledge acquisition about the resource potential and possible environmental impacts. We have narrowed down the area considerably compared to the area of investigation, precisely in order to concentrate on the area where the potential seems to be the greatest as of today. – To bring about the transition to a low-emission society, the world needs increased access to important minerals, says Oil and Energy Minister Terje Aasland (Ap). Photo: Lise Åserud / NTB – We risk destroying unique nature Signals that the government is moving too quickly have also come from the Norwegian Fishermen’s Association, the Institute of Marine Research, the WWF Environmental Organization and the Norwegian Polar Institute. Norway’s fishermen’s association demands a “global moratorium” (interim ban) against “opening up the seabed”. – We know far too little about the consequences of mining on the seabed, and risk destroying unique nature. We cannot take that risk, they write in a statement. In an article in Bergens Tidende, Rasmus Hansson (MDG) writes that the impact assessment “confirms that we are far from having good enough knowledge” to engage in mineral extraction under the sea. He asks the government to take a “long breathing break” (of 10 years), but is afraid that it will be difficult when the ball has first started to roll. – Everyone knows that once such processes are started, it quickly becomes impossible to stop them. Too much political prestige and money is invested. – The ocean is already exposed to enormous pressure Christian Steel, Sabima – The ocean is already exposed to enormous pressure in a number of different ways from us humans. Significant parts of the seabed are, for example, plowed up several times a year by bottom trawling, which destroys important habitats and releases large amounts of stored carbon. It is a big natural risk to start even a negative activity without even knowing, and push the green shift ahead of you. There is a natural crisis, and now is the time to repair and protect – not destroy more. Truls Gulowsen, Naturvernforbundet – We are concerned that haste and “political gravity” in this matter could contribute to a dangerous and poorly thought-out opening for environmentally harmful mining at sea. At the same time, we hope that the process that has now been set in motion is real, and that he will thereby lay the foundation for Norway to follow the decisions of more and more countries to ensure real mapping and the establishment of a protected area before declaring an area for mining. THE GREEN SHIFT: Two mineral types have been detected on the Norwegian continental shelf: sulphide and manganese-rich crusts. Photo: Norwegian Geological Survey – The government engages in “risk sports” The head of the Center for Sustainable Oceans, Lise Øvreås, has previously written that the government engages in “risk sports” when they facilitate the opening up of areas in the deep sea for mineral extraction. In the article she asks: “When the industry itself has to handle all aspects of prospecting and extraction of minerals, will we then get the necessary objective knowledge?” Or is the basis for the decision influenced by the fact that the mining companies that have helped finance the mapping are the ones that get the license for extraction?” – I am well on the way to agreeing with the MDG that it may look as if too fast proceedings are being “forced”, she says to news. A similar signal has also come from SV and Raudt. Less than planned In Høgre, the concern has contradicted the omens. In a written question to the minister, energy policy spokesperson Bård Ludvig Thorheim (H) asks why there has been a “significant delimitation” of the area of inquiry in the consultation document from the government. – The area that will be opened up for impact assessment is about 50 per cent smaller than what was planned, he says. He believes that Norway may miss out on large resources and important minerals for the green shift. – We have not received any good justification for why the government demarcates the area. They do not mention whether there are environmental arguments or other reasons, says Thorheim. The response from the government states that the area that will be opened up is the most interesting for exploration in the first phase: – This is the area the directorate has the most data and knowledge about, says the response to Aasland. The Ministry of Petroleum and Energy aims to submit a notification to Parliament on the opening of the Norwegian continental shelf for mineral activities in spring 2023. Photo: Ministry of Petroleum and Energy Notification to Parliament in spring 2023 Norway is one of 14 member countries of the Sea Panel, which have agreed to the recommendation to use the UN’s “ocean research decade” (until 2030) as a framework for acquiring knowledge about the deep sea. The government’s plan is to put the matter before the Storting in the second quarter of next year, and then – given that they have the majority with them – arrange for the allocation of the demarcated area. NTNU professor Egil Tjåland at the Department of Geosciences says the country has “a tradition of thorough impact assessments” and that he does this “confident that the decision taken is a consequence of orderly and democratic processes”. – Through recent history, Norway has shown that democratic processes have benefited the country with regard to natural resources, he says. The impact assessment will now be sent to a public hearing with a deadline of 27 January 2023.
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Sharp reactions to mining plans under the sea – news Vestland
