Resumen de Ocean options for climate change mitigation: disposal of greenhouse gases at the sea under the 1996 London Protocol
The international regime for disposal of wastes at sea, as established in the 1972 London Convention on dumping and its 1996 Protocol, is based on two main rules: the prohibition of all dumping at sea (Art. 4) except for a few wastes listed in Annex 1, and the prohibition of export of wastes for dumping at sea (Art. 6). In order to remove all legal barriers to ocean options for climate change mitigation, in 2006, Annex 1 of the London Protocol was amended to permit carbon capture and storage (CCS) in sub-seabed geological formations. In 2009, article 6 of the Protocol was amended to permit export of CO2 fluxes to other countries for CCS operations. In 2008, a resolution was adopted to permit ocean fertilization for "legitimate research activities". In 2013 an amendment of the Protocol was adopted to widely permit future operations of ocean fertilization and other geoengineering activities. The article reviews the legal implications of these initiatives.
