On Friday, Portugal’s parliament voted to take a first step towards banning deep-sea mining in its waters. If approved, this would make Portugal the first country in Europe to do this!
Deep-sea mining is getting a lot of attention lately because companies want to find valuable minerals from the ocean floor for the shift away from fossil fuels. The rich minerals can be used to make electric car batteries and are in high demand.
In this first vote, lawmakers from different political parties agreed to ban deep-sea mining until the year 2050. They want more scientific studies about how this activity affects the ocean and its creatures.
Catarina Abril, an environmentalist from the group Sciaena, said that knowing more about the impact of deep-sea mining is really important. The ocean floor around Portugal’s Azores islands is believed to hold many valuable minerals like manganese, cobalt, and nickel.
About 30 countries in a global organization called the International Seabed Authority (ISA) are asking for a pause on deep-sea mining. Activists and scientists are worried about how this mining can harm fragile underwater ecosystems. The ISA has been working on rules for mining for over ten years and hopes to finalize a mining code this year.
Recently, Norway stopped its plans to start deep-sea mining after receiving pushback from environmental groups and international organizations.
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