Ocean fertilization issue of contention at UN marine biodiversity meeting

Ocean fertilization was a hot topic at a recent meeting of a United Nations (UN) working group. The Ad Hoc Open-ended Informal Working Group of the General Assembly was established by the UN General Assembly in response to growing interest and concern within the international community about issues related to the conservation and sustainable use of marine biodiversity, both within and beyond areas of national jurisdiction. The meeting took place between April 28 and May 2 at the UN headquarters in New York.

During the weeklong meeting, delegates discussed the environmental impacts of human activities on marine biological diversity beyond areas of national jurisdiction, and examined possible management methods. ClimateWire reports that several third world countries spoke out against proposals to fertilize the world’s ocean as a solution to climate change during the meeting. South Africa delegate Tladi Dire said, "My delegation would stress great caution in resorting to these techniques. The climate change crisis we find ourselves in currently is precisely as a result of the failure to exercise such precaution."

Other international bodies are also urging caution in proceeding with large-scale ocean fertilization. In a February 2008 meeting in Rome, the Subsidiary Body on Scientific, Technical and Technological Advice (SBSTTA) of the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) endorsed the June 2007“Statement of Concern regarding iron fertilization of the oceans to sequester CO2”of their Scientific Groups. The group also urged nations to use the utmost caution when considering proposals for large-scale ocean fertilization operations and concluded that given the present state of knowledge regarding ocean fertilization, large-scale fertilization operations were not justified.

The Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) Alliance, a group of nongovernmental organizations with “advocating for improved and informed participation in CBD processes,” refers to ocean fertilization as a “climate techno-fix” and warns that “ocean fertilization is not proven to reduce climate-changing gases in the atmosphere and may cause major changes to marine ecosystems - altering food webs, creating toxic tides or deoxygenated seas - changes that could, in some cases, be irreversible.” The group has listed ocean fertilization as a priority topic for the May 2008 CBD meeting and says the CBD “must stop these [plans for fertilization] before they worsen ecological destruction.”

Given the number of nations and groups speaking against ocean fertilization at the April meeting, it is likely to remain a hot topic at future UN meetings.

Source: ASLO Aquatic Science Policy Report: March and April 2008

American Society of Limnology and Oceanography - www.aslo.org