Norway has decided not to proceed with controversial plans to allow mining of deep-sea minerals.
"This will be a postponement," Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Stoere from the ruling Labour Party was quoted as saying on broadcaster TV2.
The Norwegian Government’s decision earlier this year to open an area in the Norwegian Sea and the Greenland Sea for mineral activities was opposed by the Socialist Left Party and environmental groups.
The Social Left said it would not support the minority government’s budget unless it dropped the first licensing round, which was initially scheduled for the first half of next year.
But State Secretary at Norway’s Energy Ministry Astrid Bergmal denied the policy had changed.
“The budget agreement is a political compromise that does not affect the legal foundation or strategy for seabed minerals,” Bermal was quoted as telling CNBC via email.
The decision means the first round will not proceed before an election is held in Norway in September 2025 but the opposition Conservative and Progress parties which are ahead in opinion polls, support deep-sea mining.
In a press release, the Norwegian Government said a large majority in the Parliament endorsed its proposal to open an area on the Norwegian continental shelf for seabed mineral activities.
Norway, is one of the world’s wealthiest countries as a result of its large natural resources including oil and gas in the North Sea, which it has been developing since the 1960s and investing successfully via a sovereign wealth fund.