Governing novel climate interventions in rapidly changing oceans
Tiffany H. Morrison, GT Pecl, Kirsty L. Nash, Terry P. Hughes, Philippa J. Cohen, Cayne Layton, Katrina Brown, Catherine E. Lovelock, Maria Carmen Lemos, W. Neil Adger, Sarah Lawless, Bob Muir, Georgina G. Gurney, Elizabeth Mcleod, Katherine E. Mills, Imani Fairweather‐Morrison, Michael Phillips, Andrew Sullivan, Nathalie Hilmi, Lucy Holmes McHugh, Sisir Kanta Pradhan, Robert P. Streit, Navam Niles, Emily Ogier
Abstract
Marine systems are rapidly changing in response to global heating. The scale and intensity of change are triggering a host of novel interventions to sustain oceans and ocean-dependent societies. However, the pace of new interventions is outstripping capacity to prevent unintended consequences because governance systems to ensure responsible transformation of marine systems are not yet in place. Responsible transformation entails transitioning marine systems to sustainable, equitable, and adaptive states through weighing intervention risks against benefits, resolving ethical liabilities, improving social cobenefits, establishing legitimacy, and managing climate policy integrity. Global, national, and local actors must urgently convert responsible transformation principles into rules-and practice-to ensure that novel marine-climate interventions are safe, equitable, and effective.