Governing novel climate interventions in rapidly changing oceans
Global heating is reshaping marine systems, prompting a surge of novel interventions aimed at sustaining oceans and the societies that depend on them. Yet governance frameworks have not kept pace, increasing the risk of unintended consequences. Responsible transformation requires weighing risks and benefits, addressing ethical obligations, improving social co‑benefits, ensuring legitimacy and safeguarding climate‑policy integrity. This perspective argues that global, national and local actors must urgently translate responsible‑transformation principles into concrete rules and practice so that emerging marine‑climate interventions remain safe, equitable and effective in a rapidly changing ocean.
Subject Tags
- Climate impacts
- Policy
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.
Citation
Morrison, T. H., Pecl, G., Nash, K. L., Hughes, T., Cohen, P. J., Layton, C., ... & Ogier, E. (2025). Governing novel climate interventions in rapidly changing oceans. Science, 389(6759), eadq0174. https://doi.org/10.1126/science.adq0174
TNC Authors
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Elizabeth Mcleod
Global Director, Oceans
The Nature Conservancy
Email: emcleod@tnc.org