An underwater hydrothermal vent in the Arctic region.
Reuters reported on December 5th that the Norwegian government and two opposition parties have agreed to support seabed mineral exploration in the Arctic region, a significant step toward comprehensive ocean exploitation.
This agreement comes as Norway hopes to become the first country to undertake commercial deep-sea mining for minerals and job creation, despite concerns about environmental impact and international calls for a halt.
With this agreement, the government's revised draft is expected to be formally debated in parliament on January 4, 2024, before a vote. The draft sets out stricter environmental survey requirements during the exploration phase, compared to the original plan.
The agreement will also allow Congress to decide whether to approve full-scale exploitation, based on data collected from the deep-sea environment during the initial exploration phase.
Norwegian MP Baard Ludvig Thorheim said that the environmental standards for seabed mining have been set quite high in the revised proposal.
He said that the parties had engaged in heated debates to find a balance between environmental protection and commerce for companies looking to begin exploiting marine resources.
Loke Marine Minerals, a seabed mining startup with investments from Technip FMC and the Norwegian marine group Wilhelmsen, welcomed the decision.
However, the environmental organization WWF argues that the decision further damages Norway's reputation for ocean conservation and hopes that the country's parliament will prevent any moves toward full-scale exploitation of the seabed.
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