How Growthism Made Deep-Sea Mining Possible

Abstract

Despite its threat to marine life and ocean ecosystems, deep-sea mining is heralded as a solution for the supply of minerals for the energy transition.  Mining regulations are currently negotiated at the International Seabed Authority, while in 2024, Norway became the first country to start mining operations in its waters. In this study, we bring perspectives from ecological economics and sustainability sciences and argue that the paradigm of economic growth has made deep-sea mining a possibility. Through an illustrative literature review, we show how deep-sea mining research is dominated by the Global North, and how most studies reproduce a growthist narrative. Demand-side and need-based studies on energy and material consumption are still at the fringes of academic discourse. Interdisciplinary science that openly questions a growthist rhetoric, and holds itself accountable for its wider societal impacts is needed for a socially and ecologically safe energy transition.

Keywords: Deep-Sea Mining, energy transition, economic growth, energy demand, sustainability