The International Maritime Organisation (IMO) has adopted new guidance aimed at ensuring marine geoengineering research avoids unacceptable impacts, amid growing interest in climate change mitigation technologies.
Marine geoengineering involves methods to increase the ocean’s capacity to absorb carbon dioxide from the atmosphere or store carbon for long periods. However, their potential impacts on marine ecosystems are not yet fully understood.
Irish scientists have also been investigating the ocean's capacity to absorb carbon dioxide. Research led by the University of Galway aboard the RV Celtic Explorer examined the role of phytoplankton in capturing atmospheric carbon, amid growing interest in ocean fertilisation as a potential geoengineering technique.
Parties to the 1972 Convention on the Prevention of Marine Pollution by Dumping of Wastes and Other Matter and 1996 Protocol to the Convention adopted a resolution at IMO headquarters in London establishing assessment frameworks for ocean fertilization, ocean alkalinity enhancement and ocean sinking biomass.
Ocean Options – The IMO has adopted new assessment frameworks for marine geoengineering research, including ocean fertilisation, alkalinity enhancement and sinking biomass, to help safeguard marine ecosystems.
The frameworks will help governments determine, on a case-by-case basis, whether proposed activities constitute legitimate scientific research and whether they can proceed without unacceptable risks to the marine environment.
Welcoming the achievement, IMO Secretary-General Mr. Arsenio Dominguez said:
“At a time when marine geoengineering is attracting increasing scientific, commercial and public attention, they provide regulators and researchers with rigorous and transparent tools for assessing proposed activities and protecting the marine environment.”
