Submitted by Ronnie Hall on
In a statement signed by 126 organizations (including 20 new signatories this year), the HOME Alliance is calling on governments to recognize that our oceans face growing threats not only from overexploitation and the climate crisis, but also from dangerous geoengineering experiments that attempt to manipulate Earth's systems in response to climate change.
Coraina de la Plaza, Coordinator, Hands Off Mother Earth! (HOME) Alliance said, “Marine geoengineering is not a solution to the climate crisis—it’s a dangerous distraction. Our oceans are not testing grounds for risky, unproven technologies. These large-scale manipulations of marine ecosystems pose serious threats to climate and biodiversity, and the livelihoods of coastal and Indigenous communities. We need real climate solutions rooted in justice, and respect for nature - not technofixes that gamble with the planet’s most vital systems.”
Between 2019 and 2023, proposed marine carbon dioxide removal field experiments have quadrupled compared to the period from 2014 to 2018. However, there has been sustained and strong public opposition to marine geoengineering, with key grassroots-led victories showing growing resistance to marine geoengineering. These include the shutdown of an ocean alkalinity enhancement trial in Cornwall, UK, by Planetary Technologies, after pushback from local communities, scientists, and environmental organizations, and the shutdown of the Arctic Ice Project due to growing concerns over its ecological impacts this year. Similarly, a marine cloud brightening project was also shut down in Alameda, California last year.
Late last year at the UN Convention on Biological Diversity, governments came together and reaffirmed the de factomoratorium on geoengineering, highlighting their commitment to a precautionary approach to geoengineering. The London Convention/London Protocol also calls for precaution on various marine geoengineering technologies including effectively prohibiting Ocean Fertilization technofix among others.
Despite public opposition and existing restrictive governance in place, marine geoengineering proposals continue to surface globally and mainly driven by the private sector with commercial purposes. “Governments attending the oceans conference have a responsibility to uphold the Convention on Biological Diversity moratorium on geoengineering, including marine geoengineering, and other existing restrictive frameworks and regulations like London Convention/London Protocol, to ban outdoor marine geoengineering experiments from taking place, and to ensure that any decision taken prioritize human rights and the protection of marine ecosystems,” added Coraina de la Plaza.
Marie-Luise Abshagen, Head of Sustainability at the German NGO Forum on Environment and Development shared, “At the last UN Oceans Conference in 2022 in Lisbon, we saw a growing commitment of governments and parliamentarians to a deep sea mining moratorium. Three years later, 33 countries are behind this call. Be it deep sea mining or geoengineering, it is all the same trends - exploiting our oceans resources, ignoring Indigenous opposition, all for the continuation of an industrial model that is destroying our planet. Let's make the 3rd UN Oceans Conference a marine conference of resistance!"
Additional Resources
- HOME Alliance statement on Marine Geoengineering in English, Spanish and French
- Geoengineering Projects Tracker
- A Big Win As UN Convention on Biological Diversity COP16 Reaffirms Geoengineering is a Risk
- What is Ocean Alkalinity Enhancement
- What is Marine Cloud Brightening
About Hands Off Mother Earth! (HOME) Alliance
ETC Group is a founding member of the Hands Off Mother Earth! (HOME) Alliance, which is a driving force in the fight against the growing threat of large-scale technological manipulation of the climate and biodiversity: geoengineering. We are an international civil society network of close to 200 organizations from over 45 different countries, from the Global South and the Global North. HOME was first launched as a global campaign in April 2010 at The World People’s Conference on Climate Change and the Rights of Mother Earth in Cochabamba, Bolivia.
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