Kategorie: News
ExxonMobil plans CO₂ storage – environmental organisations warn
When the North Sea becomes a final repository: Why a controversial project threatens marine mammals: The American energy company ExxonMobil has big plans for the German North Sea. But what is being sold as a climate protection measure could become a serious threat to one of our most important marine ecosystems.
Five renowned environmental organisations – including BUND, Deutsche Umwelthilfe, Greenpeace, OceanCare and the whale and dolphin conservation organisation WDC – have now jointly announced their opposition.
Noise attack on a sensitive marine region
At the centre of the criticism is a licence application submitted by ExxonMobil in spring 2026. The company wishes to survey the seabed west of Heligoland – as a potential site for an underground CO₂ storage facility. To this end, so-called ‘airguns’ (acoustic hailing devices (AHD)) are to be used over a period of three months, supplemented by test drilling in the Exclusive Economic Zone.
These ‘airguns’ generate deafening underwater noise – among the loudest sounds caused by humans in the sea. Scientific studies show that porpoises can detect such sounds from as far as ten to twelve kilometres away and avoid them. However, the proposed survey areas lie just under nine kilometres from important protected areas – the Sylt Outer Reef and the Borkum Reef. It is precisely there that porpoises raise their young.
When escaping becomes a deadly trap
For these marine mammals, this is about more than just a temporary disturbance. Porpoises navigate using echolocation, hunt using sonar and communicate via sound waves. Intense noise can disorientate them, drive them away from their feeding grounds or impair their feeding to such an extent that there is a risk of long-term consequences for the entire population.
“The North Sea is already one of the most heavily exploited marine areas in the world,” warn the environmental organisations. Shipping traffic, construction work for offshore wind farms, fishing – the list of pressures is long. If months of continuous sound exposure were to be added to this, the central North Sea could simply become uninhabitable for porpoises.
Particularly alarming: bioacoustician Denise Risch points out that even a single blast from a sound cannon can kill zooplankton. However, three months of continuous sound exposure, round the clock, is planned. Zooplankton forms the basis of the entire marine food chain – any damage to it would have repercussions for the entire ecosystem.
Missing assessments, dubious promises
Environmental organisations are criticising serious gaps in the application for a licence. A Habitats Directive impact assessment – which is actually mandatory under European nature conservation law – is completely missing. Geological data, risk assessments and up-to-date surveys of flora and fauna are equally incomplete. Key information is being deferred to later stages of the procedure – an approach which the organisations criticise as inadmissible.
“The fact that ExxonMobil is simply ignoring these fundamental aspects should alarm us all,” states the joint statement. The organisations are calling for a clear rejection of the application.
Climate protection or a diversionary tactic?
The project is based on CCS technology: Carbon Capture and Storage. This involves filtering CO₂ from industrial emissions at great energy cost, transporting it by pipeline or ship, and injecting it into the seabed under enormous pressure.
There, it is supposedly to be stored safely for millennia.
In theory, this sounds like active climate protection. The reality is quite different: worldwide, most CCS projects have failed or are struggling with massive technical problems. Difficulties are also mounting off the coasts of Norway and the UK, where the technology is already in use. Scientific evidence of its actual impact on the climate is still lacking.
Critics also fear that CCS will become a dangerous distraction. Instead of consistently phasing out fossil fuels, industry and politicians could come to rely on this unproven technology – thereby delaying urgently needed investment in renewable energy, energy efficiency and zero-emission production processes.
In January 2026, the Bundestag gave the green light for CO₂ export and storage in the German North Sea by amending the Carbon Dioxide Storage Act. A decision which, in the view of environmentalists, points in completely the wrong direction.
The sea – our most important climate regulator
Yet proponents of CCS technology overlook a crucial fact: the oceans are already our planet’s largest natural carbon sink. Healthy seas absorb enormous quantities of CO₂, store it long-term and thereby stabilise the global climate – entirely without technical intervention or risks.
However, the North Sea is already in a poor state today. Overfishing, pollutants, litter, heavy shipping traffic and industrial activity are taking a massive toll on the ecosystem. The organisations consider it completely irresponsible to add further strain at this very moment.
“Whilst oil and gas companies are pumping hydrocarbons out of the North Sea in one place, they want to force CO₂ back in elsewhere using equally destructive methods,” the organisations criticise. “This is not climate policy, but greenwashing at the expense of nature.”
Gas-fired power stations with a lifetime guarantee
Particularly problematic: the new law permits the construction of gas-fired power stations that are deemed “CCS-ready” – meaning they could, in theory, be retrofitted with CO₂ capture at a later date. Such power stations receive subsidies and must operate for decades to recoup the investment costs.
The result: Germany would be tied to fossil gas infrastructure for generations, whilst at the same time the expansion of renewable energies would be held back. Billions in public and private funds would flow into a technology whose benefits are dubious – money that is urgently needed elsewhere for genuine climate protection.
What would really help
Environmental organisations are calling on the federal government and the Lower Saxony state government to radically rethink their approach. Instead of relying on risky pseudo-solutions, consistent action must finally be taken:
· A rapid and complete phase-out of all fossil fuels
· Drastic reduction of emissions through waste prevention and a shift in construction practices
· Strengthening and restoring natural carbon sinks such as moors, forests and the seas
· Massive expansion of renewable energy without compromise
· Genuine protective measures for the already heavily burdened North Sea
“We need a climate and energy policy that lives up to its name and truly brings the fossil fuel era to an end,” the organisations conclude. “The North Sea is already at breaking point due to fishing, shipping and industrial activity. To put further strain on it, whilst at the same time relying on its natural ability to sequester carbon, is pure short-sightedness.”
An ocean under constant stress
In fact, recent studies show that healthy marine ecosystems play a central role in the fight against the climate crisis. Seagrass beds, intact seabeds and marine communities sequester CO₂ far more effectively and sustainably than any technical installation – provided they are left in peace to do their job.
Yet the exact opposite is currently happening. Intensive bottom trawling ploughs up the seabed, releasing stored CO₂ in the process. Pollution from plastic and chemicals weakens the resilience of marine organisms. And now there is the threat of additional noise, which could render the last remaining refuges of endangered species uninhabitable.
Porpoises as an indicator
Among marine researchers, the porpoise is regarded as an indicator species – its well-being reflects the overall state of the North Sea. Populations have already declined significantly in recent decades. Any further pressure could be the proverbial straw that breaks the camel’s back.
The animals rely on their sensitive hearing – not only for navigation, but also to find food and communicate with conspecifics. Constant noise pollution can lead to chronic stress, weaken the immune system and impair reproduction. In an already weakened population, such factors can quickly become a threat to their very survival.
A decision with far-reaching implications
The ExxonMobil project is more than just an isolated case. It is representative of a fundamental choice of direction: will Germany continue to rely on superficial technical solutions and the industrial exploitation of the oceans? Or will it succeed in changing course towards genuine nature conservation and consistent emission reduction?
The coming weeks and months will show whether politicians heed the warnings of environmental organisations. The statement from the five organisations has been submitted. Now it is up to the licensing authorities – and ultimately to all of us as citizens, who can exert pressure to ensure a sensible decision is made.
One thing is certain: the North Sea does not need any more experiments. It needs protection, time to recover and the chance to once again fully fulfil its natural role as a climate regulator. Anything else would be short-sighted not only ecologically but also economically – because a healthy sea is priceless.
On the subject of porpoises – online talk:
See ReefExplorer series of talks on porpoises