Human activities have profoundly altered the Earth's global carbon cycle. These alterations are linked to globally rising temperatures, increases in severe weather events, and an ever-shifting and currently unpredictable pattern of droughts, floods, famine, and disease. Transitioning away from fossil fuel use and finding viable alternatives will be difficult, costly, and long. We are now faced with a scientific and societal challenge of daunting proportions - determining if and how humans can "manage" the global cycle of one of the Earth's key elements. One strategy being investigated is to enhance the ocean's natural capacity to absorb and store atmospheric CO2, either by inducing and enhancing the growth of carbon-fixing plants in the surface ocean, or by speeding up the natural, surface-to-deep water transfer of dissolved CO2 by directly injecting it into the deep ocean. Determination of the feasibility, efficiency, and environmental consequences of this process involves significant technological, economic, legal and scientific investigation. But perhaps more importantly, this will require involving the public in these investigations, providing continuous, clear and unbiased information about the benefits, limitations, and possible consequences of actions and inactions. Public opinion will prove to be the deciding factor in any question of redirecting CO2 in the environment, and they must be engaged as critical partners in this decision-making process.

This Watching Brief has been developed to provide an overview of the current scientific and legal issues of ocean sequestration of CO2 for the Member States of the Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission, as well as other policymakers and the general public. The Brief summarizes several key questions:

• What do we know about CO2 and climate ?
• Do we need to consider carbon management strategies, and what mitigation options exist?
• Why is the ocean being considered as one possible option?
• What are the environmental dangers of storing carbon in the deep ocean?
• Would intentional carbon storage in the oceans be permitted under UN and other international conventions ?

In addition, this Web site has been developed as a resource for links to current news, research, and bibliographies on ocean carbon sequestration.

Disclaimer: The information presented here is intended to provide an unbiased presentation of information about ocean carbon sequestration, and the Brief uses only facts from intergovernmental publications whenever possible. The information presented here does not necessarily reflect the opinions or views of the Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission of UNESCO nor of the Scientific Committee on Oceanic Research.