One of the largest mining operations ever seen on Earth aims to despoil an ocean we are only barely beginning to understandA short bureaucratic note from a brutally degraded microstate in the South Pacific to a little-known institution in the Caribbean…
Experience: our house was moved to a different town
We lived in our dream home. Then suddenly a huge chasm split our town. Rather than buy a new home for the move, we decided to transplant the houseI moved to Malmberget – a town in the far north of Sweden, above the Arctic Circle – from a nearby village…
Marseille biodiversity summit adopts motion to ban deep-sea mining
Move sends strong message of global opposition to mining of seabed for valuable metals, say conservationistsA motion calling for a ban on deep-sea mining has been adopted in Marseille at the world’s biggest biodiversity summit since the pandemic, after…
Coal from planned Cumbria mine may go outside UK and EU, inquiry told
Opponents say document contradicts company’s claim it will principally supply industries closer to homeThe coal extracted from the planned Cumbrian mine may go further overseas, rather than be used in Britain and the EU as the company has claimed, the …
Public inquiry begins into plans for new coalmine in Cumbria
Campaigners say support for building UK’s first deep coalmine in 30 years is diminishingThere is dwindling support for proposals to build the UK’s first deep coalmine in 30 years in Cumbria, say campaigners, as a public inquiry into the mining plans ge…
Is deep-sea mining a cure for the climate crisis or a curse?
Trillions of metallic nodules on the sea floor could help stop global heating, but mining them may damage ocean ecologyIn a display cabinet in the recently opened Our Broken Planet exhibition in London’s Natural History Museum, curators have placed a s…
The Observer view on the pros and cons of deep-sea mining | Observer editorial
There may be merits to mining the seabed, but investing in alternative green technologies on land should be the priorityDeep-sea mining has become one of our planet’s most divisive problems. By stripping the ocean floor of its vast mineral wealth, prop…
Mining multinational BHP starts talks to exit oil and gas industry
Firm says merging its hydrocarbon business with Australian producer Woodside Petroleum is one optionThe mining multinational BHP has begun talks to exit the oil and gas industry by merging its hydrocarbon business with Australia’s top independent gas p…
人類は深海に何があるかもわかっていないのに、もう破壊しようとしている
深海には陸地の6倍のコバルト、3倍のニッケル、4倍のレアアース金属イットリウムが含まれている。いまや現実問題として、風力タービン、電気自動車、ソーラーパネル、蓄電用バッテリーといったクリーンエネルギーへの転換には地球から何十億トンものこうした金属を採掘しなければならない一方で、レアメタルの採掘場として注目される深海の特殊な環境や想像以上に豊かな生物種については研究が始まったばかりだ。 環境ジャーナリスト、エリザベス・コルバートからのレポート。
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EVバッテリーに必要な希少金属として注目の深海鉱物資源。だが環境へのインパクトは無視できない
環境に優しい輸送手段とされる電気自動車（EV）への移行には大量の希少金属が必要となる。児童労働や環境汚染などの問題を起こしている現状の調達先の代替として注目されるのが深海鉱物資源だ。数々の民間鉱業企業が探査に乗り出すなか、その深海生態系への影響はいまだ科学的に調査中だ。BMWやボルボは環境に配慮し海底採鉱による金属を使用したEVバッテリーを使用しないといち早く決めるなど、対応が分かれる深海鉱物資源の最前線。
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