Side Event

OCEAN FERTILIZATION AND GEOENGINEERING - THE IMPLICATIONS FOR BIODIVERSITY.

Organizer
Action Group on Erosion, Technology and Concentration

Date and Time
19 May 2008 13:15 - 14:45

Meeting
Ninth meeting of the Conference of the Parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity (COP 9)

Geo-engineering refers to the intentional, large-scale manipulation of land, sea and stratosphere by humans to bring about environmental change. One such proposed strategy is the dumping of iron, urea and other nutrients into the high seas to increase growth plankton as a means of sequestering atmospheric CO2. Despite serious concern expressed by many marine scientists, private companies are now setting out to fertilize the oceans in the hope of winning lucrative Carbon Credits. At least two commercial companies Climos Inc and Ocean Nourishment Corporation are planning to carry out ocean fertilization projects in the next 12 months. Other geo-engineering schemes are also being proposed. No intergovernmental body currently has the mandate to decide when or if large-scale manipulations of the environment are acceptable or wise as a response to climate change. This side-event will examine current geo-engineering proposals, the state of knowledge on the ecological impacts of ocean fertilization and the implications for biodiversity and the CBD’s programme of work.