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Commercial oceanic iron fertilisation to be governed

Antarctica, Climate, Conservation, Energy, Law and Legislation

Last week I posted about Planktos, a company working on a commercial scale iron-fertilization programme. An issue I've had an interest in for some years now, mainly as it seemed to be a threat mostly ignored by mainstream conservation organisations and conservation-loving countries. This lack of action led to a number of for-profit companies trying to take advantage and make a quick buck by selling the activity as a good, scientifically sound, way of battling climate change. Some days ago Greenpeace, in cooperation with the ETC Group and CTA, finally released an official, public, statement on this issue.

This has been discussed during a meeting of the London Convention Scientific Group (agenda, pdf) that took place in Spain last week. The convention's final statement of concern (see below for the full text and a number of statements) is pretty damning for current commercial applications of the iron fertilisation theory.

Statements & assorted information

Statement on ocean fertilisation by Greenpeace International - DOWNLOAD PDF
Challenging geo-engineering solutions to climate change: The urgent need for detailed scientific scrutiny and international regulations to protect the oceans from large-scale iron fertilization programmes

Statement on Planktos by the United States - DOWNLOAD PDF
It is the understanding of the United States Government that the United States-based for-profit company Planktos, Inc., plans to dissolve up to 100 tons of iron dust in a 100 km by 100 km area approximately 350 miles west of the Galapagos Islands in June 2007 in order to stimulate phytoplankton blooms. Because this iron release project will not be done by vessels flagged in the United States or by vessels leaving from the United States, the United States Government does not have jurisdiction to regulate this project under its law implementing the London Convention. The United States believes that the iron addition projects proposed by Planktos, Inc. should be evaluated carefully by any State that has appropriate jurisdiction over this activity.

London Convention on the Prevention of Marine Pollution by Dumping of Wastes and Other Matter - LINK

Statement of Concern from the Scientific Groups of the London Convention and the London Protocol. - DOWNLOAD DOC. Full text below

Greenpeace International statement: "Recent announcements by the company Planktos of their intentions to fertilize 10,000 km2 of the seas around the Galapagos Islands with iron nano-particles raise renewed concerns regarding the unpredictability of impacts, the likelihood of unintended and potentially irreversible adverse consequences and the absence of international regulatory controls on such geo-engineering projects. Greenpeace International draws attention to recent research papers which illustrate fundamental limitations to scientific understanding of processes controlling oceanic carbon fluxes and, therefore, of the effectiveness and possible adverse impacts of iron fertilization programmes, and calls upon the Scientific Group to identify iron fertilization as an issue requiring urgent consideration by Contracting Parties during the 29th Meeting of the London Convention/2nd meeting of the London Protocol."

Statement of Concern

Large-scale Ocean Iron Fertilisation Operations

• 1. Large-scale fertilisation of ocean waters using micro-nutrients such as iron to stimulate phytoplankton growth in order to sequester carbon dioxide is the subject of recent commercial interest. The Scientific Groups of the London Convention and the London Protocol take the view that knowledge about the effectiveness and potential environmental impacts of ocean iron fertilisation currently is insufficient to justify large-scale operations.
• 2. According to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), iron fertilisation of the oceans may offer a potential strategy for removing carbon dioxide from the atmosphere by stimulating the growth of phytoplankton and thereby sequestering the carbon dioxide in the form of particulate organic carbon. However, the IPCC also stated that ocean fertilisation remains largely speculative, and many environmental side effects have yet to be assessed.
• 3. The Scientific Groups of the London Convention and London Protocol note with concern the potential for large-scale ocean iron fertilisation to have negative impacts on the marine environment and human health. They therefore recommend that any such operations be evaluated carefully to ensure, among other things, that such operations are not contrary to the aims of the London Convention and London Protocol.
• 4.Such an evaluation should include, among other things, consideration of:
• 1. the estimated amounts and potential impacts of iron and other materials that may be released with the iron;
• 2. the potential impacts of gases that may be produced by the expected phytoplankton blooms or by bacteria decomposing the dead phytoplankton;
• 3. the estimated extent and potential impacts of bacterial decay of the expected phytoplankton blooms, including reducing oxygen concentrations;
• 4. the types of phytoplankton that are expected to bloom and the potential impacts of any harmful algal blooms that may develop;
• 5. the nature and extent of potential impacts on the marine ecosystem including naturally occurring marine species and communities;
• 6. the estimated amounts and timescales of carbon sequestration, taking account of partitioning between sediments and water; and
• 7. the estimated carbon mass balance for the operation.
• 5. The Scientific Groups request the 29th Consultative Meeting of the London Convention ad 2nd Meeting of Contracting Parties to the London Protocol to consider the issue of large-scale ocean iron fertilisation operations with a view to ensuring adequate regulation of such operations. In particular, the Scientific Groups request that the following issues be addressed by the Parties:
• 1. the purposes and circumstances of proposed large-scale ocean iron fertilisation operations and whether these are compatible with the aims of the Convention and the Protocol;
• 2. the need, and potential mechanisms, for regulation of such operations; and
• 3. the desirability of bringing to the attention of other international instruments and institutions proposals for such operations.
• 6. Further, the Scientific Groups request the Secretariat to release paragraphs 1 to 3 above as the Scientific Group’s Statement of Concern and to invite Parties to the London Convention and the London Protocol to provide further information relating to proposed large-scale ocean iron fertilisation operations to the Secretariat and to the Scientific Groups as and when such information becomes available.