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Principles Guiding Our Work on Marine Ecosystem Repair

Updated May 2023

Ocean Visions is committed to advancing knowledge around tools and interventions that might slow down or avoid irreversible changes to marine ecosystems driven by anthropogenic climate disruption. Our work is predicated on, and guided by, the following core facts and principles:

  1. Earth is in the midst of a climate crisis – the evidence is overwhelming[1]. The scale and pace of observed changes and impacts observed are larger and sooner than predicted by many climate models[2]. Climate disruption caused by the existing buildup of greenhouse gases has already warmed our planet ~1.1°C[3], and is impairing the health and function of many of earth’s ecosystems, a large number of which are in the ocean [3].

  2. Home to incredible biodiversity and provider of critical services to humanity and nature, the ocean has been heavily impacted by climate disruption through massive ocean warming, ocean acidification, and deoxygenation[4]. Efforts to protect and restore vitally important ocean ecosystems and functions cannot be considered in isolation from the imperative of ameliorating and reversing climate impacts.

  3. The current climate action agenda has been focused predominantly on reducing emissions of greenhouse gases. While this work continues to be of the utmost importance, because of our delays emissions reduction alone is no longer sufficient. Given the enormous buildup of historical emissions in our atmosphere and our slow pace at decarbonization[5], we must now also remove carbon dioxide at large scales from our atmosphere to have a chance of avoiding warming of more than 1.5°C, a threshold that scientists have identified at which climate impacts become substantially more severe[6].

  4. Limiting warming to 1.5°C should not be confused with “safe” for society, and certainly not safe for the ocean. A world with 1.5°C of warming will result in in the loss of most tropical coral reefs, more intense and frequent marine heatwaves, significant loss of biodiversity, greater ocean acidification, increased deoxygenation in the ocean, and increased loss of sea ice and ice sheets[6].

  5. Unfortunately, the best available science on climate risk to marine ecosystems[6-7] establishes the real possibility that neither rapid decarbonization nor negative emissions, alone nor combined, will cool the planet in time to prevent dramatic and sustained ecosystem shifts—further perpetuating climate disruption. As the world warms, we also risk further amplifying feedback loops that result in additional warming and damage to marine ecosystems[8].

  6. To address the increasing risks posed by these dangerous climate feedback loops and avoid losing critical marine ecosystems, it is prudent to explore potential tools and interventions with the potential to slow or prevent such losses (repair) while work continues to reduce carbon emissions and remove carbon dioxide from the atmosphere. Developing effective methods to lessen damage to ecosystems in the near-term while we cease emissions and permanently remove carbon dioxide from the atmosphere can offer a path for maintaining and repairing marine ecosystems and climate over the long-term.

  7. There are a number of potential approaches for marine ecosystem repair and related strategies and pathways to adjust environmental parameters (e.g., temperature, albedo) and relieve stressors to slow down or prevent changes to marine ecosystems[9-11].  While these interventions may be able to help slow the loss of critical marine ecosystems, there is currently not enough information available to know the efficacy and impacts of these methods. These all require additional research, development, testing, and evaluation to determine which may ultimately be most beneficial to ocean systems and useful to society[9-12].

  8. Ocean Visions is not advocating for the use of any specific approaches or climate interventions for marine ecosystem repair. Rather, Ocean Visions is advocating for additional knowledge to evaluate potential use.

  9. Dialogues, governance, and research and development surrounding marine ecosystem repair must include a diverse set of perspectives, backgrounds, and expertise. In particular, members from communities most at risk of impacts from loss of critical marine ecosystems, voices from younger generations, and scientific experts, need to be included.  

  10. For many approaches and interventions, controlled field trials will be a critical component of the needed research. These should be considered complementary to observational, modeling, and laboratory studies. They are often an essential component of a complete research and development program because they provide the best information to evaluate efficacy and impacts in a real environment. Any field trial must enact due diligence to prevent harmful impacts[11, 13]. 

  11. Research and development must be accompanied by rigorous and transparent monitoring, evaluation, and scientific assessment of the impacts of intervention or repair, including environmental, social, and economic effects. This is critical to avoid unintended consequences, to ensure that results are robust, and to expand confidence in the research[11-13]. All research and development efforts need to be interdisciplinary and inclusive, abide by appropriate governance laws and requirements, address risk assessment requirements, and strive to adhere to environmental justice principles [11, 13].

  12. Planning, testing, development, and any future use of methods to repair marine ecosystems also requires sound and inclusive governance systems. Governance systems must provide mechanisms to analyze and address the risks of testing tools and interventions against the risks of failing to develop adequate solutions to the climate crisis and the loss of critical marine ecosystems. Governance systems must also ensure equity in engagement, development, and ultimate decision-making for climate intervention and marine ecosystem repair.


    [1] IPCC, 2022: Summary for Policymakers [H.-O. Pörtner, D.C. Roberts, E.S. Poloczanska, K. Mintenbeck, M. Tignor, A. Alegría, M. Craig, S. Langsdorf, S. Löschke, V. Möller, and A. Okem (eds.)]. In: Climate Change 2022: Impacts, Adaptation, and Vulnerability. Contribution of Working Group II to the Sixth Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change [H.-O. Pörtner, D.C. Roberts, M. Tignor, E.S. Poloczanska, K. Mintenbeck, A. Alegría, M. Craig, S. Langsdorf, S. Löschke, V. Möller, A. Okem, and B. Rama (eds.)]. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, UK and New York, NY, USA, pp. 3–33, doi:10.1017/9781009325844.001.

    [2] TS.B.1 in Pörtner, H.-O., D.C. Roberts, H. Adams, I. Adelekan, C. Adler, R. Adrian, P. Aldunce, E. Ali, R. Ara Begum, B. Bednar-Friedl, R. Bezner Kerr, R. Biesbroek, J. Birkmann, K. Bowen, M.A. Caretta, J. Carnicer, E. Castellanos, T.S. Cheong, W. Chow, G. Cissé, S. Clayton, A. Constable, S. Cooley, M.J. Costello, M. Craig, W. Cramer, R. Dawson, D. Dodman, J. Efitre, M. Garschagen, E.A. Gilmore, B. Glavovic, D. Gutzler, M. Haasnoot, S. Harper, T. Hasegawa, B. Hayward, J.A. Hicke, Y. Hirabayashi, C. Huang, K. Kalaba, W. Kiessling, A. Kitoh, R. Lasco, J. Lawrence, M.F. Lemos, R. Lempert, C. Lennard, D. Ley, T. Lissner, Q. Liu, E. Liwenga, S. Lluch-Cota, S. Löschke, S. Lucatello, Y. Luo, B. Mackey, K. Mintenbeck, A. Mirzabaev, V. Möller, M. Moncassim Vale, M.D. Morecroft, L. Mortsch, A. Mukherji, T. Mustonen, M. Mycoo, J. Nalau, M. New, A. Okem (South Africa), J.P. Ometto, B. O’Neill, R. Pandey, C. Parmesan, M. Pelling, P.F. Pinho, J. Pinnegar, E.S. Poloczanska, A. Prakash, B. Preston, M.-F. Racault, D. Reckien, A. Revi, S.K. Rose, E.L.F. Schipper, D.N. Schmidt, D. Schoeman, R. Shaw, N.P. Simpson, C. Singh, W. Solecki, L. Stringer, E. Totin, C.H. Trisos, Y. Trisurat, M. van Aalst, D. Viner, M. Wairu, R. Warren, P. Wester, D. Wrathall, and Z. Zaiton Ibrahim, 2022: Technical Summary. [H.-O. Pörtner, D.C. Roberts, E.S. Poloczanska, K. Mintenbeck, M. Tignor, A. Alegría, M. Craig, S. Langsdorf, S. Löschke, V. Möller, A. Okem (eds.)]. In: Climate Change 2022: Impacts, Adaptation, and Vulnerability. Contribution of Working Group II to the Sixth Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change [H.-O. Pörtner, D.C. Roberts, M. Tignor, E.S. Poloczanska, K. Mintenbeck, A. Alegría, M. Craig, S. Langsdorf, S. Löschke, V. Möller, A. Okem, and B. Rama (eds.)]. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, UK and New York, NY, USA, pp. 37–118, doi:10.1017/9781009325844.002.

    [3] IPCC, 2021: Summary for Policymakers. In: Climate Change 2021: The Physical Science Basis. Contribution of Working Group I to the Sixth Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change [MassonDelmotte, V., P. Zhai, A. Pirani, S.L. Connors, C. Péan, S. Berger, N. Caud, Y. Chen, L. Goldfarb, M.I. Gomis, M. Huang, K. Leitzell, E. Lonnoy, J.B.R. Matthews, T.K. Maycock, T. Waterfield, O. Yelekçi, R. Yu, and B. Zhou (eds.)]. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, United Kingdom and New York, NY, USA, pp. 3−32, doi:10.1017/9781009157896.001.

    [4] Cooley, S., D. Schoeman, L. Bopp, P. Boyd, S. Donner, D.Y. Ghebrehiwet, S.-I. Ito, W. Kiessling, P. Martinetto, E. Ojea, M.-F. Racault, B. Rost, and M. Skern-Mauritzen, 2022: Ocean and Coastal Ecosystems and their Services. In: Climate Change 2022: Impacts, Adaptation, and Vulnerability. Contribution of Working Group II to the Sixth Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change [H.-O. Pörtner, D.C. Roberts, M. Tignor, E.S. Poloczanska, K. Mintenbeck, A. Alegría, M. Craig, S. Langsdorf, S. Löschke, V. Möller, A. Okem, and B. Rama (eds.)]. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, UK and New York, NY, USA, pp. 379–550, doi:10.1017/9781009325844.005.

    [5] Global Carbon Project (2022) Carbon budget and trends 2022. [www.globalcarbonproject.org/carbonbudget] published on 11 November 2022

    [6] IPCC, 2018: Summary for Policymakers. In: Global Warming of 1.5°C. An IPCC Special Report on the impacts of global warming of 1.5°C above pre-industrial levels and related global greenhouse gas emission pathways, in the context of strengthening the global response to the threat of climate change, sustainable development, and efforts to eradicate poverty [Masson-Delmotte, V., P. Zhai, H.-O. Pörtner, D. Roberts, J. Skea, P.R. Shukla, A. Pirani, W. Moufouma-Okia, C. Péan, R. Pidcock, S. Connors, J.B.R. Matthews, Y. Chen, X. Zhou, M.I. Gomis, E. Lonnoy, T. Maycock, M. Tignor, and T. Waterfield (eds.)]. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, UK and New York, NY, USA, pp. 3-24. https://www.cambridge.org/core/books/global-warming-of-15c/summary-for-policymakers/31C38E590392F74C7341928B681FF668.

    [7] IPCC, 2019: Summary for Policymakers. In: IPCC Special Report on the Ocean and Cryosphere in a Changing Climate [H.-O. Pörtner, D.C. Roberts, V. Masson-Delmotte, P. Zhai, M. Tignor, E. Poloczanska, K. Mintenbeck, M. Nicolai, A. Okem, J. Petzold, B. Rama, and N. Weyer (eds.)]. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, UK and New York, NY, USA, pp. 3–35. https://www.cambridge.org/core/books/ocean-and-cryosphere-in-a-changing-climate/summary-for-policymakers/097A895553D86981DFE6195ADFD3DDA4.

    [8] Ripple, W.J., C. Wolf, T.M. Lenton, J.W. Gregg, S.M. Natali, P.B. Duffy, J. Rockström, and H.J. Schellnhuber (2023) Many risky feedback loops amplify the need for climate action. One Earth 6:86-91.

    [9] GESAMP (2019) High level review of a wide range of proposed marine geoengineering techniques. [(Boyd, P.W. and Vivian, C.M.G. (eds.)]. (IMO/FAO/UNESCO-IOC/UNIDO/WMO/IAEA/UN/UN Environment/ UNDP/ISA Joint Group of Experts on the Scientific Aspects of Marine Environmental Protection). Rep. Stud. GESAMP No. 98, 144 p.

    [10] Gattuso, J., A.K. Magnan, L. Bopp, W.W.L. Cheung, C.M. Duarte, J. Hinkel, E. Mcleod, F. Micheli,A. Oschiles, P. Williamson, R. Billé, V.I. Chalastani, R.D. Gates, J. Irisson, J.J. Middelburg, H. Pörtner, and G.H. Rau (2018) Ocean solutions to address climate change and its effects on marine ecosystems. Front. Mar. Sci. 5:337. Doi 10.3389/fmars.2018.00337

    [11] National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine (2021) Reflecting Sunlight: Recommendations for Solar Geoengineering Research and Research Governance. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. https://nap.nationalacademies.org/catalog/25762/reflecting-sunlight-recommendations-for-solar-geoengineering-research-and-research-governance.

    [12] Bodansky, D. and S. Biniaz. (2020) Climate intervention:The case for research. Center for Climate and Energy Solutions & SilverLining. Available for download: https://www.c2es.org/content/international-policy-on-near-term-climate-risks-and-interventions/

    [13] American Geophysical Union (2023) Ethical framework principles for climate intervention research. Available for download: https://www.agu.org/-/media/Files/Learn-About-AGU/Ethical-Framework-Climate-Intervention/AGU-Ethical-Framework-Draft-Principles.pdf