Marine geoengineering — the deliberate intervention in the marine environment to manipulate natural processes, including the mitigation of climate change impacts — has been occurring at untested scales and without appropriate oversight. Spurred by negative reactions to ocean iron fertilization efforts that began in 2007, the parties of the London Convention and the London Protocol (LC-LP) created the Assessment Framework for Scientific Research Involving Ocean Fertilization.
Gaps in the governance of this scientific research still remain. To remedy these issues, this brief recommends that the International Maritime Organization and parties to the LC-LP develop memorandums of understanding to delineate framework implementation plans, adopt legally binding governance transparency mechanisms to ensure linkages between national and international governance institutions, and create independent assessment panels.
