https://www.miningweekly.com
Energy|Mining|Petroleum|Resources|Surface|Technology|Turbines|Environmental|Turbines
Energy|Mining|Petroleum|Resources|Surface|Technology|Turbines|Environmental|Turbines
energy|mining|petroleum|resources|surface|technology|turbines-company|environmental|turbines-person

Environmentalists call on Norway to stop plans for deep-sea mining

12th April 2021

By: Reuters

  

Font size: - +

OSLO - Six environmental organisations, including the World Wildlife Fund and Greenpeace, on Monday called on Norway to stop plans to open ocean areas for deep-sea mining.

The government in January launched a process to open areas on its extended continental shelf for exploring and producing minerals from the ocean floor, with plans to issue the first licences as early as 2023.

"Minerals and metals for the green shift should be obtained from consumption reduction and better reuse on land, not from the depths of the sea where brutal mining can do irreparable damage to nature," the environmentalists said in a statement.

They also called on Norway to speak up against deep-sea mining in international waters at the International Seabed Authority (ISA), a Jamaica-based UN body which discusses rules for seabed mineral production.

Norway does not need ISA's permission for its own deep-sea mining push according to international law because potential resources are located on its extended continental shelf.

The Nordic country has sponsored a number of expeditions in recent years to map the ocean floor along a part of the Mid-Atlantic Ridge in the Arctic, extending from Jan Mayen to the Svalbard Archipelago.

The discovered deposits include metals and minerals that are important in battery technology, wind turbines and mobile telephones, the Norwegian Petroleum Directorate, in charge of the mapping, has said.

In January, Norway's oil and energy ministry launched a public consultation on a proposed deep-sea mining impact assessment programme, the first step in the opening process.

Environmentalists, however, said it was too early to conduct such a programme.

"We know less about the deep sea than about the moon's surface," Silje Ask Lundberg, the head of Norway's oldest environmental organisation Naturvernforbund (Friends of the Earth Norway) said.

"Mining on the seabed can destroy species and habitats that have an important role for both the sea and the planet."

Steinar Loeve Ellefmo, an associate professor who heads a study programme on deep-sea mining at the Norwegian University of Science and Technology, said the study wasn't premature.

"I do not think it can be too early to collect data to learn," he said.

Edited by Reuters

Comments

Latest News

Kropz Elandsfontein
Kropz secures R170m loan facility
27th March 2024 By: Darren Parker

Showroom

Willard
Willard

Rooted in the hearts of South Africans, combining technology and a quest for perfection to bring you a battery of peerless standing. Willard...

VISIT SHOWROOM 
Alco-Safe
Alco-Safe

An unmanned breathalyser that is made to be tough and simple to use. Can be used in any environment for operator-free breathalyser testing.

VISIT SHOWROOM 

Latest Multimedia

sponsored by

Hyphen, Eva mine, ferrochrome price make headlines
Hyphen, Eva mine, ferrochrome price make headlines
27th March 2024
Resources Watch
Resources Watch
27th March 2024

Option 1 (equivalent of R125 a month):

Receive a weekly copy of Creamer Media's Engineering News & Mining Weekly magazine
(print copy for those in South Africa and e-magazine for those outside of South Africa)
Receive daily email newsletters
Access to full search results
Access archive of magazine back copies
Access to Projects in Progress
Access to ONE Research Report of your choice in PDF format

Option 2 (equivalent of R375 a month):

All benefits from Option 1
PLUS
Access to Creamer Media's Research Channel Africa for ALL Research Reports, in PDF format, on various industrial and mining sectors including Electricity; Water; Energy Transition; Hydrogen; Roads, Rail and Ports; Coal; Gold; Platinum; Battery Metals; etc.

Already a subscriber?

Forgotten your password?

MAGAZINE & ONLINE

SUBSCRIBE

RESEARCH CHANNEL AFRICA

SUBSCRIBE

CORPORATE PACKAGES

CLICK FOR A QUOTATION







sq:0.115 0.148s - 109pq - 2rq
Subscribe Now