On Monday, the environmental movement will hand over a letter to the Prime Minister’s office demanding that Norway must put aside plans to look for minerals on the seabed. At the same time that the organizations are campaigning outside the Storting, there will be smaller campaigns outside Norwegian embassies in around 20 countries around the world. Demand Støre’s resignation In the letter, international and national environmental organizations demand that Jonas Gahr Støre resign as head of the International Sea Panel, if Norway goes ahead with plans to open exploration for minerals on the seabed. The panel was established in 2018 at the initiative of Norway. Erna Solberg chaired the panel together with the president of Palau until 2021. Then Støre took over as chair. The ocean panel countries have committed to sustainable management of 100 percent of their ocean and coastal areas by 2025. The panel consists of heads of state and government from 14 countries. – We believe it is obvious that Støre cannot lead the International Ocean Panel, while at the same time opening up the sea areas to what could be the biggest natural intervention in Norway’s history. That’s what the head of Nature and Youth, Gina Gylver, says. STØRE MUST GO: – It is quite obvious that you cannot sit and lead an ocean panel that has been very clear that mining on the seabed is not sustainable management of the oceans, says Gina Gylver, head of Nature and Youth Photo: NTB She believes it weakens the legitimacy of the entire panel that Støre sits as leader. – It is embarrassing for Norway, and we have simply not earned ourselves to have such a role, says Gylver. – The deep seas concern us all. Loss of biodiversity – This is the world’s largest carbon store. The oceans are vital for fisheries and food security. It will be campaigned in around 20 countries and several places in Norway, so this is an issue that engages widely, despite the fact that it has gone a bit under the radar here at home, says Gylver. She believes it is important to have more information about what the extraction of seabed minerals entails. In the letter, the environmental organizations ask the Norwegian government to support a global postponement of mining in the deep sea. They write that scientists believe that as many as 10 million species live in the deep sea. The majority of these species, the researchers believe, we have not yet discovered. Unknown creature at a depth of 3,500 meters. Photo: AFP There is widespread fear among scientists that mining in the deep sea will lead to a loss of biological diversity, the letter states, among other things. Large mineral resources The government said on 20 June this year that it wants to open exploration for seabed minerals on the Norwegian continental shelf. – When we submit a notification to the Storting on the opening of the extraction of seabed minerals, it is to see and discover whether extraction can take place profitably, sustainably and responsibly, said Oil and Energy Minister Terje Aasland when the plans were presented. This is what the government has proposed: The government announced before the summer that they want to open mineral operations on the Norwegian seabed. According to the report to the Storting, this means that the state will have the opportunity to open up both exploration and extraction, if it is adopted in the Storting. The proposal will be considered in the autumn, and then the Storting will vote on whether they want to adopt it or not. If it goes through, the companies can then apply for two types of permits: One for exploration and one for extraction. Even if they agree to prospect, they do not automatically agree to mine. According to the government, extraction must only take place in a sustainable and responsible manner. The companies must submit a separate plan for extraction, in which they investigate, among other things, what consequences this may create for the environment, other industries that are affected, etc. According to the Petroleum Directorate, there are large mineral resources on the Norwegian continental shelf, including several million tonnes of copper, zinc and cobalt. This could mean large revenues for Norway. There is an area in the Greenland Sea and the Barents Sea of 281,200 square kilometers that the government wants to open up. The area is outside Nordland and up towards Finnmark. Within this area, exploration for seabed minerals can be opened. The area covers 592,500 km². Norway’s land area is 385,000 km². Photo: The Norwegian Petroleum Directorate / NPD Know far too little To get your hands on the minerals on the seabed, you have to go down to a depth of several thousand metres. The government faced harsh criticism from several professional circles, including the Norwegian Environment Agency and the Geological Survey of Norway, when they presented their impact assessment on the matter. According to the Norwegian Environment Agency, the impact assessment does not provide a decision-making basis for opening the area. A number of marine scientists, in addition to the environmental organisations, have pointed out that we know far too little about life on the seabed. – Thus, we do not know what damage the extraction of minerals can do, they believe. In June, Oil and Energy Minister Terje Åsland responded to the criticism as follows: – Both the implementation of the green shift and the handling of climate change are no simple matter. Oil and Energy Minister Terje Aasland: – Today we lean on Russia and China, countries we may find it difficult to trust in the future. It is then important that we consider whether we can extract these minerals that we badly need. Photo: NTB Aasland thought it was wrong to call this an opening of mining operations in the sea. – What we are talking about is picking up the minerals we need or scraping the seabed in very limited areas. During the exploration phase, the companies must acquire knowledge, and ensure that they can document that this can be done in a sustainable, good, environmental way, explained the minister.
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Asks Støre to step down as head of the International Ocean Panel – news Norway – Overview of news from various parts of the country
