After becoming the first European country to open parts of its ocean to deep-sea mining in late 2024 – a decision that drew criticism from environmental activists and scientists – Norway’s newly elected government has made a deal to postpone any such activity in the near term.
Norway’s national election in September 2025 left no party with a majority, and since then, the Labor Party has continued governing the country under minority rule, meaning that the party needs support from other groups in Norwegian Parliament to pass laws. The temporary ban on deep-sea mining came as the result of a recent budget agreement between the Labor Party and more left-wing support parties: the Socialist Left Party (SV) and the Green Party.
Several environmental groups have praised the decision, which is set to last through 2029, when the next national election is scheduled.
“Deep-sea mining in Norway has once again been successfully stopped. We will not let this industry destroy the unique life in the deep sea, not in the Arctic nor anywhere else,” Greenpeace Nordic Deep Sea Mining Campaigner Haldis Tjeldflaat Helle said. “This must be the nail in the coffin for the deep-sea mining industry in Norway. Any government that is committed to sustainable ocean management cannot support deep sea mining.”
After Norway made its decision, Greenland’s government has stated its intention to ban deep-sea mining in its territorial waters.
“I expect to propose a ban on deep-sea mining during this election period,” Greenlandic Minister of Business, Mineral Resources, Energy, Justice, and Gender Equality Naaja H. Nathanielsen told local newspaper Sermitsiaq.ag.
Nathanielsen explained that all mining activity at sea would not be banned, as that would affect other businesses, such as projects with glacial flour and sand extraction; however, she explained that there are many uncertainties about what damage deep-sea mining can cause in the ocean.
“I see no reason why deep-sea mining should be allowed – partly from a precautionary principle, as we do not know what we risk destroying with this type of mining,” Nathanielsen said. “We have plenty of activity on land and are, therefore, not dependent on activities in deep water.”
As the two Northeast Atlantic governments are making decisions on deep-sea mining, the U.S. government has been looking into pursuing the practice.
In early 2025, U.S. President Donald Trump signed an executive order instructing the U.S. to expedite drilling of minerals, via the extraction of polymetallic nodules, from the seafloor in both international and U.S. territorial waters.
The executive order said that the U.S. “has a core national security and economic interest in maintaining leadership in deep sea science and technology and seabed mineral resources.”
Officially, the United Nations International Seabed Authority (ISA) holds jurisdiction over seabed mining in international waters by virtue of a 1994 treaty, ratified by 169 UN member states, including every major coastal economy except the U.S.
However, in partnership with Vancouver, Canada-based seabed mining company The Metals Company (TMC), the Trump administration has set out to defy the ISA by setting out to commercialize mining efforts in the Clarion–Clipperton Zone (CCZ), a biodiversity hot spot in the Pacific Ocean, resulting in the outcry of numerous national leaders and ISA members.
A study conducted near the end of 2025 found that deep-sea mining operations threaten ocean food chains, potentially impacting valuable fisheries.
The study, led by researchers from the University of Hawai’i, focused on the effects of particle plumes ejected into ocean water by deep-sea mining operations, finding that the plumes contaminated food sources of zooplankton and micronekton, which are the first links in the ocean food chain.
“When the waste released by mining activity enters the ocean, it creates water as murky as the mud-filled Mississippi River,” University of Hawai'i at Mānoa School of Ocean and Earth Science and Technology (SOEST) graduate student Michael Dowd said of the study’s findings. “Micronekton, small shrimp, fish, and other animals that swim feed on zooplankton. Some migrate between the depths and near-surface waters, and they are consumed by fish, seabirds, and marine mammals. Zooplankton’s exposure to junk food sediment has the potential to disrupt the entire food web.”
