NORWAY could become the first country in the world to support deep sea mining after its parliament voted to allow the controversial practice to commence in the Norwegian Sea.
The bill passed on Tuesday proposed opening 280,000 square kilometers of its national waters to mining companies.
The area that will be opened is larger than the Netherlands, South Korea, and Greece combined.
The parliament vote will accelerate the hunt for precious metals such as magnesium, lithium, scandium, and cobalt, which are in high demand for clean technologies and can sustain mankind for many years.
These metals also help feed the world’s growing appetite for technology like smartphones and are critical in sustaining an environment-friendly future such as electric vehicles, batteries, and solar panels.
The Norwegian government assured it will be done in a “sustainable way” and promised that it will not start issuing licenses until more environmental studies are carried out.
But environmentalists and scientists publicly opposed the move and argued it would cause a catastrophic and irreversible impact on marine ecosystems and eliminate biodiversity, while some called the vote a “sad day for Norway.”
More than 800 scientists have signed a petition demanding to stop the proposed deep-sea mining.
Norwegian officials have not yet announced a timeline for starting exploration but an agreement on mining in international waters is expected to be reached this year.
