28 June 2007

Oostend, Belgium - WWF today welcomed the amendment of the OSPAR Convention to enable the storage of carbon dioxide in the North East Atlantic. Carbon Capture and Storage (CCS) is a major step forward in the battle against climate change and WWF believes it has the potential to be an important part of the solution to mitigate the effects of global warming and help keep global average temperature rise below 2ºC.

The OSPAR Convention set up to protect the North East Atlantic marine environment has agreed to allow CCS in sub sea-bed geological formations in the North East Atlantic. This follows serious concerns about the effects of climate change and ocean acidification on the marine environment.

Increasing concentrations of CO2 in the atmosphere is now affecting ocean chemistry. Half the CO2 released since the industrial revolution has been absorbed into the sea and has resulted in the formation of carbonic acid. This century it is predicted that the seas will become more acidic than at any time in the past 20 million years. This has negative consequences for organisms needing carbonate shells, as the carbonate saturation state of seawater is impacted. This includes cold-water corals, found in North-East Atlantic waters, and key plankton communities, which form the basis of the food chain.

Climate change is altering every aspect of the seas around the world, including those of the OSPAR area. Higher temperatures in the North East Atlantic are changing species distributions and breeding cycles, and are reducing the overall productivity of animal plankton communities which feed the rest of the food chain. These observations are a real cause for concern, as North East Atlantic oceanographic conditions play a key role in the climate of Europe.

Stephan Lutter, Director of WWF’s North East Atlantic Marine Programme says, "The OSPAR Convention has made progress today in helping to mitigate against a changing climate, and it is important that the Decision has recognised that a net reduction in CO2 is ensured. The impacts to the marine environment from CCS will be less than those of climate change and ocean acidification. Nonetheless, WWF calls for strict environmental regulation control and monitoring. There must be internationally agreed procedures for independent verification and monitoring of storage and related activities before CCS technologies count against greenhouse gas reduction targets. We also realise that carbon storage is only one option of a hierarchy of measures that can be taken, such as energy demand control, energy efficiency, climate-smart technologies and use of renewable energy sources”.

The OSPAR Commission also this week set in motion ways to better address climate change and ocean acidification in its work programmes. WWF is keen to see better understanding of the impacts, that every effort is urgently taken to adapt to impacts, and most critically that the causes of climate change and ocean acidification are reduced. WWF specifically requests that:

* Global average temperature rise stays below 2ºC from pre-industrial levels
* To increase the likelihood of achieving this, concentrations of CO2 equivalents should be stabilised at 400ppm globally
* Global emissions of CO2 should be halved by 2050 (from 1990 levels) and in industrialised countries, emissions should be reduced by 80 per cent by 2050.


For further information:
Debbie Chapman, WWF UK, tel: +44 1483 412397
Stephan Lutter, WWF North-East Atlantic Programme, tel: +49 40 530200 122 or +49 162 2914425

Editor's notes
WWF, the global environment network, takes action to conserve endangered species, protect endangered spaces and address global environmental threats, by seeking long-term solutions. WWF is now known simply by its initials and the panda logo.

About OSPAR
* The OSPAR Convention is the legal framework to protect the marine environment of the North-East Atlantic from land-based pollution and human impacts at sea. There are 16 Contracting Parties sharing the maritime and/or catchment area: Belgium, Denmark, the EC, Finland, France, Germany, Iceland, Ireland, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland and the United Kingdom. In addition, the maritime area includes international waters.
* The OSPAR Commission is the governing body to adopt decisions, recommendations and/or other agreements under the Convention on an annual basis.
* The last OSPAR Ministerial Meeting was held in Bremen, Germany, June 2003, and adopted key commitments to protect marine biodiversity.
* WWF along with other NGOs has observer status to OSPAR and its Committees and Working Groups.

Resources:
* WWF position on CCS
* OSPAR Press Release