politics
Greenpeace with Arctic expedition:
Wants to Prevent New Advances Toward Seabed Mining
Greenpeace and an international team of researchers have embarked on an expedition to explore life in the Arctic deep sea. The aim is to ensure long-term protection of the deep sea.
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"We are going to map the fantastic deep-sea nature found in Norwegian Arctic waters. There are still enormous gaps in knowledge about life and ecosystems on the seabed, and we will contribute to closing them," says Haldis Tjeldflaat Helle, head of Greenpeace Norway, to High North News.
"Using underwater robots, the researchers will film the life and landscape in the deep sea, such as seamounts and submarine volcanoes. We will also livestream from the depths, so that everyone can follow along on the journey," continues Helle.
The expedition is heading toward an area between Svalbard, Iceland and Jan Mayen, which was opened up for mineral operations by the Norwegian government and parliamentary majority in 2024.
However, the government’s mining plans were paused after budget negotiations with first the Socialist Left, and then with the Socialist Left, the Green Party, and the Red Party. Last autumn, they prevailed with a demand that the plans be put on hold until the end of this parliamentary term.
"These plans should be shelved once and for all. The deep sea nature needs protection, and it could get that under the new Norwegian marine conservation act which also applies to the continental shelf," states the Greenpeace leader.
Should Norway align itself with Trump and other mining gamblers or should it align itself with Europe?
Crossroads
Helle notes that Norway's initial decision to allow exploration for deep-sea mining sparked strong reactions abroad, not least from the EU.
"This winter, the EU parliament reiterated its support for an international moratorium [temporary halt, ed. note] on deep-sea mining, and warned against unilateral mining in international waters, as US President Donald Trump is now threatening to do," she points out and continues:
"Going forward, Norway faces the following choice: Should it align itself with Trump and other mining gamblers, or should it align itself with Europe?"
New species
As mentioned, Greenpeace itself has joined forces with international researchers for the current expedition.
Paco Cárdenas, an expert on deep-water sponges at the Museum of Evolution at Uppsala University, holds a leading role in the expedition.
"We are sailing into unknown waters and will probably discover entirely new species. There is life here that has survived for hundreds of millions of years. Losing these species before we understand them would be a global tragedy. We must protect them," says Cárdenas.
Part of a global ecosystem
Also at the forefront of the research effort is Anne Helene Tandberg, a researcher at the University Museum of Bergen. She is an expert on crustaceans and is working on compiling the Norwegian Red List for marine species.
"The Nordic and Arctic deep seas are the very pulse of our northern seas. Everything is inextricably linked together - from the smallest crustaceans to the largest seamounts. This is more than just stones, animals and water; we are documenting vital organs in a global ecosystem that makes our planet habitable," she states.
Cárdenas and Tandberg are accompanied by six marine biologists from Uppsala University, the University of Hamburg, the Senckenberg Society for Nature Research, the National Museum of Natural Sciences in Spain, as well as Greenpeace Germany and Greenpeace International.
The expedition will conclude at the Port of Bergen on June 5th, with a presentation of the first findings for the public and decision-makers.
Livestreaming from the deep dives can be followed on Greenpeace's website.
