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The in the Gulf of Mexico is causing questions to be asked further afield about the place of oil and oil exploration.

The International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN) for a global moratorium on exploration in any "ecologically sensitive" area.

Into this category the organisation puts all deep-ocean sites, and anywhere in the polar regions.

IUCN is an unusual organisation in that its members include governments and non-governmental organisations.

Because of its governmental membership and principally governmental funding, it's usually very cautious about making any statement with a political bent; so this should be seen as something reasonably serious from the conservation end of the table.

Those observing BP's attempts to stop the oil flow from the stricken blowout preventer might conceivably agree with IUCN director-general Julia Marton-Lefevre's conclusion that:

"The technology to minimise the risks and impacts of catastrophes such as the Deepwater Horizon oil spill is obviously lacking at present."

IUCN's call echoes others made recently in regard of European oil exploration.

, the Greek Member of the European Parliament, recently intervened in a parliamentary session to demand a moratorium on exploration in EU waters, saying of the Gulf of Mexico leak:

"Every day thousands of tonnes of oil leak into the sea, directly threatening marine species such as sharks, whales and dolphins and five species of sea turtles, out of the seven that exist worldwide. The impact on local communities and the economy is immeasurable."

Many rigs currently operating in EU waters are markedly older than Deepwater Horizon, he noted; and if President Obama were demanding a moratorium on new exploration, the EU should do the same. He wasn't the only MEP making the same point.

Marine conservation group Oceana .

Italy is planning to issue 24 more exploration licenses in its part of the Mediterranean Sea, including some close to Venice, it says, with Croatia, Egypt, Libya, Malta, Spain and Tunisia also granting new concessions:

"[...] even though the Mediterranean is in fact the most hydrocarbon-contaminated sea of the world."

IUCN, Oceana and Mr Arsenis all go on to argue that the obvious solution is massive investment in renewables. Thus from IUCN president Ashok Khosla:

"Our transition to a clean energy future must start now - investment in research and development for clean technology and energy efficiency must be ramped up. Our economies need to be built increasingly on low carbon inputs."

Oceana, meanwhile, bemoans the relatively low level of investment in wind turbines around the Mediterranean compared with oil and gas rigs.

It seems a reasonable conclusion to draw that the reason behind the disparity is simply financial; if companies saw more profit in building wind turbines than exploring for oil and gas, they'd want to build turbines.

Would imposing a moratorium on oil exploration, as Mr Arsenis proposes, alter that equation? Or would energy companies move to oil drilling somewhere else, rather than wind power locally?

What all this speaks to is a need for joined-up thinking in whatever energy policies countries pursue - and these days, a joining-up also between energy and climate policies.

If it's maintained, for example, a moratorium on US drilling must in the end reduce the US oil supply.

So either the country must have done the groundwork for a switch to another domestically-sourced form of energy - whether that be nuclear, renewables, coal, biofuels or whatever, plus perhaps some energy efficiency improvements - or imports must increase.

And if it really intends making cuts in its CO2 emissions on the scale that President Obama pledged at the Copenhagen climate summit, some of those domestic options are ruled out.

Ditto Europe. Currently the EU . But with the international carbon price too low to stimulate "green" investment through the parallel climate-change commitments, other legislative tools have to spring into play if those targets are to be met.

Otherwise, banning oil and gas exploration from seas around North America and Europe is likely to increase exploration in other regions of the world that might be just as ecologically sensitive.

There are many candidates; but such areas might include Sakhalin, where IUCN has spent many years , Iraq (the historic Fertile Crescent) or the Indonesian archipelago (coral reefs by the score).

For Europeans and Americans, that would put rigs out of sight and out of mind. But not out of the oceans.

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