Deep Seabed Mining: WWF has filed a lawsuit against the government

• Følg søksmålet på norsk: WWF saksøker staten.

The deep sea is home to habitats and species found nowhere else on Earth, and provides essential environmental services. Now this unique and vulnerable nature is threatened by deep seabed mining in Arctic waters.

As one of the first countries in the world, Norway has decided to commercially mine the seabed for minerals. The areas are huge, comparable to the size of the United Kingdom.

The Norwegian government has received massive criticism for the opening process, both by its own environmental authorities, national and international research communities, as well as on the international stage.

"Norway's decision to proceed with opening up vast areas of ocean for destructive mining on the seabed, is an unprecedented management scandal. We have never before seen a Norwegian government so arrogantly ignore all scientific advice and defy the warnings of a united marine research community", says Karoline Andaur, CEO of WWF-Norway.

In April 2024, WWF-Norway announced that we intend to take the Norwegian government to court for failing to comply with the impact assessment requirements of the Seabed Minerals Act, if they do not reverse their decision to open areas to deep seabed mining.

"We hoped the notice of a lawsuit would prompt the government to reconsider and withdraw its controversial decision. Unfortunately, WWF-Norway sees no other options but to proceed with legal action", says Andaur.

"We believe the government is violating Norwegian law by now opening up for a new and potentially destructive industry without adequately assessing the consequences. It will set a dangerous precedent if we allow the government to ignore its own rules, override all environmental advice, and manage our common natural resources blindly", says Andaur.  

WWF-Norway believes that the Ministry of Energy's strategic impact assessment, which forms the basis of the government's decision to open areas, does not meet the minimum legal requirements under the Seabed Minerals Act, rendering the opening illegal.

This concern was also highlighted by the government expert body, the Norwegian Environment Agency, in its public consultation response.

Further, WWF-Norway believes that the strategic impact assessment shows that the government does not have adequate knowledge about the marine environment in the deep sea to be able to assess the consequences of exploration and exploitation, either on the environment, other industries or the Norwegian economy. There are too many and too large knowledge gaps for the legal minimum standard of a strategic impact assessments to be met.

This is the basis for WWF's lawsuit.

WWF also believes that a new and dangerous precedence will be set for how both current and future governments can carry out impact assessments, if the decision is upheld.

"This controversial decision made by the Norwegian government, could have a major negative impact on negotiations on mining in international waters, and in the worst case, contribute to other countries opening up for mining on the seabed in their waters as well – without the necessary knowledge", says Andaur.

Leading scientists from The Norwegian Institute of Marine Research, The Norwegian Polar Institute, The Norwegian Environment Agency, University of Bergen and Norwegian University of Science and Technology have all expressed their concerns regarding the knowledge gap, and delivered warnings about the potential negative consequences of opening up the deep seabed for mining activities.

The international opposition is comprehensive. The European Parliament, the European Commission, the Nordic Council, the UN Environment Programme, the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUNC), the World Economic Forum, 32 countries and 900 deep-sea researchers worldwide are among those who have spoken up against Norway's decision. Many of them are asking for a pause or a moratorium (temporary ban) on offshore mineral extraction until we have sufficient knowledge about the consequences.

"While the European Parliament, our Nordic neighbors and a number of other countries call for a moratorium and are taking their time to gather sufficient knowledge, the Norwegian government is planning to issue exploitation licenses already in the first half of 2025. Once again, they show that other priorities take precedence over knowledge-based nature management,” Andaur says.

“It's really difficult to understand why the government chooses to put both nature and Norway's international reputation on the line by continuing this irresponsible and rushed process", she concludes.

• Drilling, excavating and digging on the seabed can destroy vulnerable and unique wildlife and cause large scale habitat fragmentation. We risk destroying huge areas of the seabed.
  
• Loss of wildlife and destruction of habitats in the deep sea can lead to less food and other negative consequences for fish and other marine life, and may potentially impact marine life in large parts of the ocean.
• Expected emissions of chemicals, waste products and particles from mining operations can pollute the marine environment, even far away from the operations themselves.
• By affecting spawning areas, spawning success, migration routes and access to food in the fish's important life stages, deep seabed mining may lead to negative consequences for the fishing industry. Emissions of heavy metals can enter the food chain and affect the safety of seafood.
• The deep seabed is the world’s largest carbon reservoir. We do not know the extent or the consequences of carbon emissions caused by mining on the seabed.
• A change in natural emissions from hydrothermal vents on the deep seabed may have unknown consequences for the ecosystem.
• We risk comprehensive negative impacts on wildlife from noise, vibration and light. Noise pollution can radiate up to 500 km from the source.
• Potential future scientific discoveries, such as medicines, may be lost.
• The ocean is worth more than just the value of its limited resources. The long-term benefits of a rich and clean ocean should outweigh any short-term gains from seabed mining.

Read more about the dangers of deep seabed mining here.

Disclaimer top photo: Any opinions and/or conclusions expressed in this product are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent the views or opinions of the Centre for Deep Sea Research.