Ocean fertilisation and climate change: The need to regulate emerging high seas uses

International Journal of Marine and Coastal Law

Volumn 23, Issue 2, 2008, Pages 297-326

  Rayfuse, Rosemary ^a   Lawrence, Mark G ^b   Gjerde, Kristina M ^c  

^a UNIVERSITY OF NEW SOUTH WALES   (Australia)

^b MAX PLANCK INSTITUTE FOR CHEMISTRY   (Germany)

^c IUCN

Author keywords

Dumping; London convention; London protocol; Ocean fertilisation

Indexed keywords

BIODIVERSITY; CARBON DIOXIDE; CLIMATE CHANGE; MARINE ENVIRONMENT; MARINE POLICY; RISK ASSESSMENT; SAFETY;

ENGLAND; EURASIA; EUROPE; LONDON [ENGLAND]; UNITED KINGDOM; WESTERN EUROPE;

EID: 42149093214     PISSN: 09273522     EISSN: 15718085     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: 10.1163/092735208X295846     Document Type: Article

References (116)

1. Fourth Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (Fourth IPCC Report), Contribution of Working Group I, February 2007, available at http://www.ipcc.ch/.
2. Fourth IPCC Report, Contribution of Working Group II, April 2007, p. 19, available at http://www.ipcc.ch/.
3. IPCC Working Group III, Special Report on Carbon Dioxide Capture and Storage, Summary for Policy Makers, September 2005 (IPCC Special Report), available at http://www.ipcc.ch/.
4. R. Purdy and R. Macrory, Geological carbon sequestration: critical legal issues, Tyndall Centre for Climate Change Research, Working Paper 45, January 2004, p. 2, available at http://www.tyndall.ac.uk/publications/ working_papers/wp45.pdf.
5. IPCC Special Report, p. 3, para. 3, available at http://www.ipcc.ch/.
6. IPCC Special Report, p. 7, para. 8 and IPCC full report, Chapter 6 on Ocean Storage, available at http://www.ipcc.ch/.
7. Fourth IPCC Report, Contribution of Working Group III, p. 20, para. 17, available at http://www.ipcc.ch/.
8. See 'Planktos Shareholder Update, Business Wire, 19 December 2007, available at http://www.pr-inside.com/planktos-shareholder-update-r356198.htm.
9. Anna Salleh, 'Urea "climate solution" may backfire', ABC Science Online, 9 November 2007, available at http://www.abc.net.au/science/ news/stories/2007/2085584.htm.
10. Press Release, 'Planktos Launches Galapagos "Voyage of Recovery'", 12 March 2007, available at http://www.planktos.com.
11. For example, The Wedgewood Hotel and Spa in Vancouver promotes itself as 'the world's first carbon neutral hotel' as a result of an agreement with Planktos for the purchase of carbon credits to 'zero out all its CO2 emissions'. See Press Release, 'World's First Carbon Neutral Hotel', 16 February 2007, available at http://www.planktos.com. Planktos and its sister company KlimaFa have also been donating carbon offsets to a variety of highly visible beneficiaries, including the Vatican. See Planktos/KlimaFa Press Release, 'Vatican to Become World's First Carbon Neutral Sovereign State', available at http://www.planktos.com.
12. Kyoto Protocol to the Framework Convention on Climate Change, Kyoto, 11 December 1997. Entered into force 16 February 2005, 37 International Legal Materials (1998) 22; Art. 12.
13. See Decision 1/CMP.2 of the parties to the Kyoto Protocol, 'Further guidance relating to the clean development mechanism', Doc FCCC/KP/CMP/2006/10/ Add.1 of 10 November 2006, available at http://unfccc.int/resource/docs/2006/ cmp2/eng/10a01.pdf#page=3.
14. Adopted at the seventh meeting of the states parties to the Kyoto Protocol, See Report of the Conference of the Parties on its Seventh Session, held at Marrakesh from 20 October-10 November 2001, Part II, available at http://unfccc.int/cop7/,
15. Bali Action Plan, para. 1(b)(iii), adopted at COP-13, 14 December 2007, available at http://unfccc.int/files/meetings/cop_13/application/pdf/ cp_bali_action.pdf.
16. 1972 Convention for the Prevention of Marine Pollution by Dumping of Wastes and Other Matter, London, 29 December 1972 (the London Convention). Entered into force 30 August 1975, 1976 UKTS 43; 1996
17. Protocol to the Convention on the Prevention of Marine Pollution by Dumping of Wastes and Other Matter of 29 December 1972, London, 7 November 1996 (the London Protocol). Entered into force 24 March 2006, [2006] ATS 11.
18. Statement on Large-scale Ocean Iron Fertilisation, London Convention Scientific Group 30th Meeting (LC/SG 30), 18-22 June, 2007, available at www.imo.org.
19. 'Large-scale ocean fertilisation operations not currently justified say Parties to international treaties', IMO Briefing 40/2007 of 16 November 2007, available at www.imo.org.
20. The oceans currently absorb approximately 2 GT of carbon per year, which is equal to between 30 and 50 percent of all anthropogenic emissions;
21. see T. Takahashi, S.C. Sutherland, C. Sweeney, A. Poisson, N. Metzl, B. Tilbrook, N. Bates, R. Wanninkhof, R.A. Feely, C. Sabine, J. Olafsson and Y.C. Nojiri, 'Global sea-air CO2 flux based on climatological surface ocean pCO2, and seasonal biological and temperature effects', 49 Deep-Sea Res. Pt. II 1601-1622 (2002);
22. also see J. Adhiya and S.W. Chisholm, 'Is Ocean Fertilisation a Good Carbon Sequestration Option?' MIT Laboratory for Energy and the Environment, Publication No. LFEE 2001-001 RP, September 2001, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Boston, MA.
23. J.A. Raven and PG. Falkowski, 'Oceanic sinks for atmospheric CO2', 22 Plant Cell Environ. 741-755 (1999).
24. U. Siegenthaler and J. Sarmiento, 'Atmospheric Carbon Dioxide and the Ocean', 365 Nature 119-125 (1993).
25. Ibid., and K.O. Buesseler et al., 'Revisiting carbon flux through the ocean's twilight zone', 316 Science 567-570 (2007).
26. N. Meskhidze et al., Atlantic Southern Ocean productivity: Fertilization from above or below?' 21 Glob. Biogeochem. Cyc., doi:10.1029/2006GB002711 (2007);
27. S.-M.Fan, W.J. Moxim and H. Levy, II, Aeolian input of bioavailable iron to the ocean', 33 Geophys. Res. Lett., doi:10.1029/2005GL024852 (2006);
28. S. Doney, 'Plankton in a Warmer World', 444 Nature 695-696 (2006) at 696.
29. P. W. Boyd, 'Ironing Out Algal Issues in the Southern Ocean', 304Science 396-397 (2004);
30. P.W. Boyd et al., 'Mesoscale Iron Enrichment Experiments 1993-2005: Synthesis and Future Directions', 31.5 Science 612-617 (2007) at 612.
31. J.H. Martin and S.E. Fitzwater, 'Iron Deficiency Limits Phytoplankton Growth in the Northeast Pacific Subarctic', 331 Nature 341-343 (1988).
32. J.H. Martin, 'Glacial-Interglacial CO2 Change: The Iron Hypothesis', 5 Paleoceanography 1-13 (1990) at 2.
33. J.H. Martin, S.E. Fitzwater and R.M. Gordon, 'Iron Deficiency Limits Phytoplankton Growth in Antarctic Waters', 4 Global Biogeochemical Cycles 5-12 (1990);
34. J.H. Martin et al., 'Testing the Iron Hypothesis in Ecosystems of the Equatorial Pacific Ocean', 371 Nature 123-129 (1994).
35. J.H. Martin, 'Glacial-Interglacial CO2 Change: The Iron Hypothesis', above n. 26 at 4.
36. See H.J.W de Baar et al., 'Synthesis of Iron Fertilisation Experiments: From the Iron Age in the Age of Enlightenment', 110 J. Geophys. Res. C09S16 1-24 (2005)
37. and Boyd et al., above n. 24.
38. Boyd et al., above n. 24.
39. M.J. Lutz, K. Caldeira, R.R. Dunbar and M.J. Behrenfeld, 'Seasonal rhythms of net primary production and particulate organic carbon flux describe biological pump efficiency in the global ocean' 112 Journal of Geophysical Research (2007) doi: 10,1029/2006JC003706.
40. See also University of Miami Rosenstiel School of Marine & Atmospheric Science (30 November 2007) "Ocean Fertilization 'Fix" For Global Warming Discredited By New Research", Science-Daily 30 November 2007, available at http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2007/11/ 071129132753.htm.
41. S. Blain et al., 'Effect of natural iron fertilization on carbon sequestration in the Southern Ocean', 446: 5700 Nature, 1070-1074. (2007).
42. Ibid., at 1073.
43. K. Buesseler and P.W. Boyd, 'Will Ocean Fertilization Work?', 300 Science 67-68 (2003);
44. K. Buesseler et al., "The Effects of Iron Fertilisation on Carbon Sequestration in the Southern Ocean', 304 Science 414-417 (2004);
45. R. Dalton, 'Ocean Tests Raise Doubts Over Use of Algae as Carbon Sink', 420 Nature 722 (2002).
46. S.W. Chisholm, P.G. Falkowski and J.J. Cullen, 'Dis-crediting Ocean Fertilisation', 294 Science 309-310 (2001) at 310.
47. See also Q. Schiermeier, "The Oresman', 421 Nature 109-110 (2003).
48. M.G. Lawrence, 'Side Effects of Oceanic Iron Fertilisation', 297:5589 Science 1993 (2002).
49. Chisholm et al., above n. 36.
50. Lawrence, above n. 37;
51. P. Liss et al., 'Ocean fertilization with iron: effects on climate and air quality 57B Tellus 269-271 (2005);
52. O.W. Wingenter et al., 'Changing concentrations of CO, CH4, C5H8, CH3Br,CH3I, and dimethyl sulfide during the southern ocean iron enrichment experiments', 101 Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 8537-8541 (2004).
53. X. Jin and N. Gruber, 'Offsetting the radiative benefit of ocean iron fertilization by enhancing N2O emissions', 30:24 Geophys. Res. Lett. 2249 (2003) doi: 10.1029/2003GL018458 (OCE 3-1-3-4).
54. Liss et al., above n. 39;
55. Wingenter et al., above n. 39;
56. N. Meskhidze and A. Nenes, 'Phytoplankton and cloudiness in the Southern Ocean', 314:5804 Science 1419-1423 (2006).
57. Lawrence, above n. 37;
58. N. Lefevre et al., 'Phytoplankton physiology can affect ocean surface temperatures', 28:7 Geophys. Res. Lett. 1251-1254 (2001);
59. R. Frouin and S. F. Iacobellis, 'Influence of phytoplankton on the global radiation budget', J. Geophys. Res. (2002) doi: 10.1029/2001JD000562.
60. Chisholm (2001), above n. 36; Schiermeier (2003), above n. 36; Lawrence (2002), above n. 37;
61. Dalton (2002), above n. 35;
62. and Buesseler and Boyd (2003), above n. 35.
63. United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea, 10 December 1982, Entered into force 16 November 1994, 21 International Legal Materials 1245 (1982). As of 7 August, 2007, there are 155 parties to the LOSC
64. This customary obligation is articulated in Principle 21 of the Stockholm Declaration of the United Nations Conference on the Human Environment, adopted on 16 June 1972, 11 International Legal Materials 1416 (1972).
65. LOSC Art. 192.
66. LOSC Art. 194(1).
67. LOSC Art. 1(4).
68. LOSC Art. 194(2).
69. LOSC Art. 194(3).
70. LOSC Art. 194(5).
71. LOSC Art. 195.
72. LOSC Art. 196.
73. LOSC Art. 1(5).
74. London Convention Art. I.
75. London Protocol Art. 2.
76. Agenda 21, Chapter 17, para. 30(b)(i).
77. See R. Cohen, 'Dumping of Wastes at Sea: Adoption of the 1996 Protocol to the London Convention 1972', 6(1) Review of European Community and International Environmental Law (1997) 54-61;
78. E. Molenaar, "The 1996 Protocol to the 1972 London Convention', 12(3) International Journal of Marine and Coastal Law (1997) 396-403.
79. London Protocol Art. 3.
80. London Protocol Art. 4.
81. In 2006 the Protocol was amended to permit sub-seabed sequestration of CO2 in geological formations; the amendment entered into force February 10, 2007.
82. L. de la Fayette, "The London Convention 1972: Preparing for the Future', 13(4) International Journal of Marine and Coastal Law (1998) 515-536 at 516.
83. P. Birnie and A. Boyle, International Law and the Environment (2d ed.) (2002) at 421, Oxford University Press, Oxford.
84. Ibid., at 520.
85. Ibid., at 516.
86. LOSC Art. 1(5).
87. London Protocol Annex 2.
88. LOSC Art. 1(5)(b)(ii).
89. United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, 31 International Legal Materials (1992) 851. Entered into force 21 March 1994. See Art. 2.
90. UNFCCC Arts. 3(3) and 4(1)(d).
91. 31 UST 333. Entered into force 5 October 1978.
92. ENMOD Treaty Arts. 1(1) and II.
93. L.C. Green, The Contemporary Law of Armed Conflict (2d ed.) (2000) Manchester University Press, Manchester, at 138.
94. 1977 Geneva Protocol I Additional to the Geneva Conventions of 12 August 1949, and Relating to the Protection of Victims of International Armed Conflicts, 1125 UNTS (1979) 3-608, adopted 6 June 1977, entered into force 7 December 1978.
95. UNFCCC Art. 1(1).
96. LOSC Art. 238.
97. LOSC Arts. 239 and 242-244.
98. LOSC Art. 240.
99. LOSC Art. 194(2).
100. LOSC Arts. 195 and 196.
101. 1992 Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD), 1760 UNTS 79. Adopted 5 June 1992, entered into force 29 December 1993.
102. CBD Art. 4.
103. LOSC Art. 216.
104. See, e.g., R. Rayfuse, Non-Flag State Enforcement in High Seas Fisheries (2004) Martinus Nijhoff Publishers, Leiden, esp. chapters 1 and 2.
105. 33 USC §§ 1401 et seq.
106. United States submission to the International Maritime Organization, Scientific Groups of the London Convention and. Protocol, Planktos, Inc., Large-scale Ocean Iron Addition Projects, LC/SG 30/INF.28 (June 1, 2007), available at www.imo.org.
107. P. Verlaan, 'Experimental Activities that Intentionally Perturb the Marine Environment: Implications for the Marine Environmental Protection and Marine Scientific Provisions of the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea', (2007) 31 Marine Policy 210-216.
108. Ibid., at 214-215.
109. Associated Press, 'Scientist Unveils Plan on Climate Change', Albuquerque Journal, 21 August 2007, available at http://www.enn.com/ top_stories/article/22072/print.
110. See ATMOCEAN website, http://www.atmocean.com/sequestration.htm and http://www.atmocean.com/faqs.htm.
111. Protocol on Environmental Protection to the Antarctic Treaty, Madrid, 4 October 1991. Entered into force 14 January 1998, 30 International Legal Materials 1455 (1991).
112. Antarctic Treaty, Washington, 1 December 1959. Entered into force 23 June 1961, 450 UNTS 169.
113. Antarctic Treaty Art. VII(5).
114. Environmental Protocol Art. 8 and Annex 1.
115. See, e.g., Chisholm et al., above n. 36.
116. J.R. Fleming, "The pathological history of weather and climate modification: Three cycles of promise and hype', 37(1) Historical Studies in the Physical and Biological Sciences (2006) 3-25.