London Convention Puts Brakes on Ocean Geoengineering

In a shot across the bows of geoengineering companies, the London Convention (the International Maritime Organization body that oversees dumping of wastes at sea) today unanimously endorsed a scientific statement of concern on ocean fertilisation and declared its intention to develop international regulations to oversee the controversial activities. It further advised states that such large-scale schemes are “currently not justified.”

“We applaud the London Convention for addressing a major gap in global governance,” said David Santillo, of Greenpeace International’s Science Unit who attended the London Convention meeting this week. “The Parties meeting here this week confirmed that large-scale ocean fertilization schemes are not scientifically justified and they urged governments to exercise utmost caution when considering such proposals,” said Santillo.