Controversial ocean carbon capture schemes face UN-backed ban

Nearly 200 countries imposed a moratorium on 'eco-hacking' the oceans last week, putting the fortunes of several ocean iron fertilisation (OIF) companies in jeopardy.

The ban occurred at the UN Convention on Biological Diversity in Bonn, where countries discussed the prospect of geo-engineering – using large-scale scientific projects to try and avert global warming.

OIF is one method that private companies had been exploring. It involves seeding the oceans with iron or other particles that would encourage phytoplankton growth.

As the phytoplankton die and fall to the sea floor, companies such as Climos claim that they would take carbon dioxide with them, sequestering it on the ocean floor. Climos is one of several firms hoping to pursue OIF commercially.

However, environmentalists have repeatedly raised concerns that the practice could disrupt delicate marine ecosystems and have questioned whether the process will provide a safe and effective means of sequestering carbon dioxide.

Now 191 countries concerned about the effects of the activity have imposed a ban on everything but small-scale scientific OIF studies, said Jim Thomas, a researcher for environmental group ETC.

While the CBD meeting progressed, the London Convention – an International Maritime Organisation effort to monitor dumping of harmful substances in the oceans – met in Ecuador. The Convention previously published a statement of concern over OIF last year.

Climos, which wants to profit from OIF activities through the sale of carbon credits, addressed the Ecuador meeting, and vowed to produce an independent environmental study of OIF later this year.

"Climos encourages the London Convention to develop regulatory guidelines to help assess and control future OIF activities," said the company in a statement. "Moreover, as we have previously stated, no sale of carbon credits from OIF projects should take place unless those projects are shown to be effective and the environmental impacts understood."