Norway agreed on Sunday to stop the first round of licensing for Arctic deep-sea mining following pressure from the Socialist Left Party (SV), reported

Norway's government reached an agreement with a small progressive party to not mine in the Arctic in exchange for it supporting its budget.

OSLO, Dec 1 (Reuters) - A small leftwing environmentalist political party in Norway succeeded on Sunday in blocking plans to mine the sea bed at the bottom of the Arctic, by demanding the government scrap its first licensing round in return for support for the budget.

Norway suspended its plans to open vast areas of its seabed for deep-sea mining on Sunday (December 1), reacting to pressure from environmental groups and political negotiations. The original proposal from the Norwegian government would have allowed companies to apply for licenses to mine around 280,

The government, however, intends to continue preparatory work, including the regulations development and environmental impacts assessment.