Norway Faces WWF In Court Over Deep Sea Mining

Protesters hold placards during a demonstration against seabed mining outside the Norwegian Parliament building in Oslo (Credit: AFP)

The World Wide Fund for Nature's (WWF) Norwegian chapter will have its day in court Thursday, after it sued Norway for opening up its seabed to mining before performing sufficient impact studies.

Already Western Europe's largest oil and gas producer, Norway could become one of the first countries to authorise seabed mining, arguing the importance of not relying on China for minerals essential for renewable technology.