The groups, including Greenpeace and civil society organisations, called on the Philippine government to stop the experiment, known as "ocean fertilisation".

"This is not a solution and is a dangerous diversion to the real solutions to address climate change," said Jasper Inventor, Greenpeace climate and energy campaigner.

"It is also extremely irresponsible to test a speculative and unproven method, which potentially has high impacts to the environment."

Sydney-based Ocean Nourishment Corp. is said to be planning to pump up to 1,000 tonnes of nitrogen-rich urea into the Sulu Sea in the southern Philippines, where it has already dumped one tonne of the substance.

The company has said urea stimulates the growth of phytoplankton in the sea and can absorb large quantities of carbon dioxide -- the main cause of global warning -- from the atmosphere.

It also said the growth of more phytoplankton would help boost fishing stocks.

But Inventor said the UN's Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change has noted that ocean fertilisation "remains largely speculative" and "many environmental side effects have yet to be assessed."

The Sulu Sea between Palawan in the west and Mindanao is home to the UNESCO World Heritage Tubbataha Reef Marine Park.

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