Deep sea mining poses a severe threat to global environmental health; however, this seems of no concern to the Norwegian parliament. After a vote on January 9th, 2024, Norway has exposed an area of 108,000 square miles off the coast of Norway to potential mining.

Despite knowing the detrimental effects this may have on the health of the ocean and Earth as a whole, Norway has placed the value of the resources far above the concern of the planet’s environmental health. These rich supplies of resources include copper, cobalt, zinc, and gold; all of which can be used in the economy for vast amounts of products.

To defend these actions, Norway and deep-sea mining advocates argue that this shift to deep-sea mining will allow a transition to a low-carbon economy and will eventually lead to a lower cost than terrestrial mining.

Many people argue that since we know so little about the ocean, we should keep it that way to minimize the possibility of losing it. Frode Pleym, head of Greenpeace Norway, says “we do not know what we risk losing for the exact reason that we do not know what the deep sea holds.”

Despite complaints from many politicians, individuals, and counties as a whole; Norway has followed through with the plan to allow deep sea mining in their ocean and states  and the government claims “extraction will only be permitted if the industry can demonstrate that it can be done in a sustainable and responsible manner.” However, only time will tell if this is true, or if it will even make a difference.