- Research organizations have come together to form a new international coalition that aims to establish principles for responsible ocean iron fertilization (OIF) study and advancement
- Founding members include ExOIS, Growing Oceans, Oceanry, and the Southern Ocean Field Experiment Consortium
- To keep findings impartial and independent, the coalition won’t pursue direct financial gain from its OIF studties
A number of research organizations have joined forces in a new international coalition, calling for the rigorous and coordinated study of ocean iron fertilization (OIF) and its potential as a marine carbon dioxide removal (mCDR) pathway.
Convened by Exploring Ocean Iron Solutions (ExOIS), the ExOIS Field Research Coalition unites independent organizations working on OIF field programs in different regions of the global ocean.
OIF involves adding small amounts of iron to iron-limited ocean regions, where it serves to stimulate phytoplankton growth. This, in turn, enhances the natural processes that move CO2 from the surface ocean layers into deeper waters.
The newly formed coalition will focus on advancing the scientific understanding of OIF through greater coordination, information sharing, transparency, and common standards for responsible research.
Coalition founding members ExOIS, Growing Oceans, Oceanry, and the Southern Ocean Field Experiment Consortium have signed a voluntary charter, committing to scientific excellence, environmental stewardship, transparency and scientific independence, collaborative learning, and research conducted in the public interest.
Members have also agreed not to seek direct financial gain from their OIF research during the experimental phase, including through the sale of carbon credits and offsets, as a way to ensure that research findings remain impartial and independent.
The coalition builds on ongoing research efforts
Each one of the founding organizations is already working on its own research pathway.
In that regard, ExOIS is developing the North Pacific Carbon Study in the iron-limited Northeast Pacific, while Growing Oceans has done initial field research in low-nutrient, low-chlorophyll waters near Tonga.
Oceanry, on the other hand, is shaping out plans for ocean iron research in the North Atlantic, and the Southern Ocean Field Experiment Consortium is working towards field research in the Southern Ocean.
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“We need to better understand potential climate solutions as soon as possible, but that urgency must be matched by scientific rigor and environmental responsibility,” said Ken Buesseler, Executive Director of ExOIS and Emeritus Research Scholar at the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI).
“Working together in this way can help us learn more and learn faster while establishing shared expectations for responsible and independent research,” he added.
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