Funnily, i thought the London Convention should limit the amount of CO2 dumped into the ocean, causing ocean acidification. Maybe they woke up to this by now. Best wishes Emily Sent from my BlackBerry® smartphone on O2
-----Original Message----- From: Ken Caldeira <[email protected]> Sender: [email protected] Date: Fri, 18 Oct 2013 17:50:57 To: RAU greg<[email protected]> Reply-To: [email protected] Cc: [email protected]<[email protected]>; geoengineering<[email protected]> Subject: Re: [geo] Marine Geoengineering to be Regulated Under Amendments to International Treaty It is interesting that they included some vague wordage about potential harm in the definition of "geoengineering": Marine geoengineering is defined as “a deliberate intervention in the marine environment to manipulate natural processes, including to counteract anthropogenic climate change and/or its impacts, and that has the potential to result in deleterious effects, especially where those effects may be widespread, long-lasting or severe”. This is an interesting definition, as interventions that do not have "the potential to result in deleterious effects, especially where those effects may be widespread, long-lasting or severe", would by definition not be considered "geoengineering". One could imagine that a device that did CO2-removal from seawater might not be considered to be "geoengineering" under this definition if the device could be shown to have no widespread, long-lasting or severe deleterious effects. However, the wording is vague enough to provide a full-employment program for lawyers. PS. The London Convention and London Protocol do not cover "dumping" into the ocean from land. _______________ Ken Caldeira Carnegie Institution for Science Dept of Global Ecology 260 Panama Street, Stanford, CA 94305 USA +1 650 704 7212 [email protected] http://dge.stanford.edu/labs/caldeiralab https://twitter.com/KenCaldeira On Fri, Oct 18, 2013 at 5:04 PM, Greg Rau <[email protected]> wrote: > “Contracting Parties shall not allow the placement of matter into the sea > from vessels, aircraft, platforms or other man-made structures at sea for > marine geoengineering activities listed in Annex 4, unless the listing > provides that the activity or the sub-category of an activity may be > authorized under a permit”. > > So matter can be place in the sea from coastal manmade or natural > structures (e.g. a river) for marine geoengineering activities? > > "The London Protocol prohibits the dumping of wastes and other matter at > sea.." > > What about the 9+ GT/yr of our CO2 that we dump in the sea via the > atmosphere? Where are the Planet Police when you need them? > > Greg > > ------------------------------ > *From:* Andrew Lockley <[email protected]> > *To:* geoengineering <[email protected]> > *Sent:* Friday, October 18, 2013 4:24 PM > *Subject:* [geo] Marine Geoengineering to be Regulated Under Amendments > to International Treaty > > > http://www.maritime-executive.com/article/Marine-Geoengineering-to-be-Regulated-Under-Amendments-to-International-Treaty-2013-10-18/ > > Marine Geoengineering to be Regulated Under Amendments to International > Treaty > > 35th Consultative Meeting of Contracting Parties to the Convention on the > Prevention of Marine Pollution by Dumping of Wastes and Other Matter, 1972 > (London Convention) 8th meeting of Contracting Parties to the 1996 Protocol > thereto (London Protocol) > > BY MAREX > > Marine geoengineering, including ocean fertilization, will be regulated > under amendments to the 1996 Protocol to the international treaty which > regulates the dumping of wastes and other matter at sea. > > > The amendments, adopted on Friday by Parties to the 1996 Protocol to the > Convention on the Prevention of Marine Pollution by Dumping of Wastes and > Other Matter, 1972, add a new article 6bis which states that “Contracting > Parties shall not allow the placement of matter into the sea from vessels, > aircraft, platforms or other man-made structures at sea for marine > geoengineering activities listed in Annex 4, unless the listing provides > that the activity or the sub-category of an activity may be authorized > under a permit”. > > > Marine geoengineering is defined as “a deliberate intervention in the > marine environment to manipulate natural processes, including to counteract > anthropogenic climate change and/or its impacts, and that has the potential > to result in deleterious effects, especially where those effects may be > widespread, long-lasting or severe”. > > > A new Annex 4 on “Marine geoengineering” lists “Ocean fertilization”, > defined as “any activity undertaken by humans with the principal intention > of stimulating primary productivity in the oceans. Ocean fertilization > does not include conventional aquaculture, or mariculture, or the creation > of artificial reefs.” > > > The Annex provides that all ocean fertilization activities other than > those referred to above shall not be permitted. An ocean fertilization > activity may only be considered for a permit if it is assessed as > constituting legitimate scientific research taking into account any > specific placement assessment framework. > > > A new annex V adds the Assessment Framework for matter that may be > considered for placement under Annex 4. The Assessment framework provides > that Contracting Parties should consider any advice on proposals for > activities listed from independent international experts or an independent > international advisory group of experts. > > > The amendments will enter into force 60 days after two thirds of the > Contracting Parties have deposited an instrument of acceptance of the > amendment with IMO. (The London Protocol currently has 43 Parties.) > > > Mr. Stefan Micallef, Director, Marine Environment Division, International > Maritime Organization (IMO) commended the adoption of the amendment to > regulate the placement of matter for ocean fertilization and other marine > geoengineering activities. “This is a true testament to the fact that the > London Protocol continues to be among the most advanced international > regulatory instruments addressing human activities in the marine > environment and there is no doubt that this much-awaited amendment will be > appreciated by other international bodies. The amendment also reflects the > scientific-based approach of the London Convention and its 1996 Protocol,” > Mr. Micallef said. > > > Representatives of the Contracting Parties to the Convention on the > Prevention of Marine Pollution by Dumping of Wastes and Other Matter, 1972 > (London Convention) and to the 1996 Protocol thereto (London Protocol), > were in London for their 35th/8th meeting, held from 14 to 18 October at > the Headquarters of IMO, which hosts the Office for the London Convention > and Protocol. > > > The London Protocol prohibits the dumping of wastes and other matter at > sea except for those on a short permitted list, for which permits must be > sought. > > > The adoption of amendments relating to marine geoengineering follows > discussion on the matter in previous LC/LP meetings. An agreement issued in > 2008 stated that ocean fertilization activities, other than legitimate > scientific research, should not be allowed. In 2010, the Parties approved > an “Assessment Framework for Scientific Research Involving Ocean > Fertilization.” > -- > You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups > "geoengineering" group. > To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an > email to [email protected]. > To post to this group, send email to [email protected]. > Visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/geoengineering. > For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/groups/opt_out. > > > -- > You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups > "geoengineering" group. > To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an > email to [email protected]. > To post to this group, send email to [email protected]. > Visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/geoengineering. > For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/groups/opt_out. > -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "geoengineering" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to [email protected]. To post to this group, send email to [email protected]. Visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/geoengineering. For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/groups/opt_out. -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "geoengineering" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to [email protected]. To post to this group, send email to [email protected]. Visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/geoengineering. For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/groups/opt_out.
