COP31: A Call to Reject Marine Geoengineering and Protect Oceans

Below is an extract from the Home Alliance Statement released at the opening of the 31st UN Climate Change Conference (COP31) in Antalya, Türkiye. Download the full statement below, or visit www.handsoffmotherearth.org for more info.

As we approach breaching the critical 1.5°C temperature threshold — a political and moral failure of existential consequence — the same extractive model that has driven the climate system to the brink of collapse is positioning the Ocean as a limitless dumping ground for climate pollution by proposing to manipulate marine biology and chemistry at planetary scale.

The risks of ocean heating, acidification, sea level rise, and the critical role played by traditional stewards of the Ocean are rightfully taking space in the climate arena at COP31. However, as the climate crisis escalates, and the Ocean is being sized up as the next frontier for exploitation, the focus on integrating Ocean action and mitigation under the Paris Agreement is being leveraged to promote highly speculative and risky marine carbon dioxide removal (mCDR) projects - otherwise known as "geoengineering”.

Under the guise of vague terms such as ‘Ocean Based Climate Solutions’ and ‘Ocean Climate Technologies’, these highly speculative technologies are being promoted as a ‘fix’ to manage continued carbon dioxide emissions or even bring temperatures back below 1.5°C.

Already under immense pressure from the impacts of overexploitation, warming and pollution, these misguided attempts to manipulate the Ocean present incalculable uncertainty and risk, threatening to undermine not only one of the greatest carbon sinks on Earth, but the very cradle of life on Earth.

Ocean protection, not manipulation!

So-called ocean climate solutions and ocean climate technologies do not address the root causes of ocean warming, acidification and sea level rise. Instead, they risk entrenching extraction, dumping and appropriation, and further exposing frontline populations, who have contributed least to the climate crisis to its worst impacts.

Recognizing the vital role the Ocean and oceanic ecosystems play in regulating the climate system should lead to their stewardship and protection, not a doubling down on pollution and exploitation. In this moment of deep crisis for the climate, negotiations at the UNFCCC must focus on real, proven solutions and reject false proposals that will only benefit big polluters.

We, as representatives from civil society, Indigenous Peoples, and grassroots organizations from around the world therefore call on governments and COP31 Presidencies to:

- Uphold the long standing and repeatedly reaffirmed de facto moratorium on all climate geoengineering approaches including marine carbon dioxide removals under the Convention on Biological Diversity, noting the Rio Synergies agenda, and the ICJ Climate Change Advisory Opinion affirming that States must consider their obligations under other international environmental treaties, when taking climate action and interpret their obligations under international law harmoniously.

- Avoid vague terminology such as Ocean Climate Solutions and Ocean Climate Technologies in COP31 decisions to shut down any loopholes that marine carbon dioxide removals / geoengineering proponents could exploit.

- Exclude marine carbon dioxide removal credits and all CDR credits from Article 6 mechanisms and Nationally Determined Contributions accounting, and provide for grantbased ocean climate finance in line with fair shares.

- Urgently prioritize community-driven, real solutions to the climate crisis, a just and equitable phase-out of fossil fuels - that must include halting offshore oil and gas activities.

Oceans and seas are crucial for communities and all life on the planet. The Ocean is not a testing ground for profit-driven experiments and carbon market gambling. The HOME Alliance demands a stop to all marine-based geoengineering experiments and further harm to oceans!