Posted on
26 June 2009 - Madeira, Portugal – The International
Whaling Commission adopted a major climate
change resolution on the last day of its
61st meeting, although it failed to take
decisions on contentious whaling issues
after days of negotiations that have hampered
its progress in recent years.
On Thursday, IWC member
countries unanimously agreed to adopt a
resolution on climate change co-sponsored
by the United States and Norway. The 85-member
body began its annual meeting on Monday,
though it set aside most major decisions
until later in the year.
The resolution states
that climate change is a key threat to whales,
and urges governments to commit to reducing
their carbon emissions at the UN Climate
meeting in Copenhagen in December. It also
directs IWC to engage in external climate
change meetings in the run up to Copenhagen.
“This is a very positive
development that will help ensure that climate
negotiations take into account impacts on
biodiversity,” said Dr. Susan Lieberman,
WWF International Species Programme Director.
“However, members did not take action that
would stop commercial whaling outside of
IWC regulation, which is a fundamental problem
that the IWC must address—and which continues
today.”
IWC members, for example,
did not take action on “scientific whaling”
by Japan, which has led to the killing of
thousands of whales, particularly in the
Antarctic Whale Sanctuary. Under the guise
of scientific research, Japan has continued
to defy the 1986 moratorium on commercial
whaling by hunting whales in both the Antarctic
and the North Pacific, claiming that these
whales must be killed to answer critical
management questions.
Although IWC members
did not take decisions on many key whaling-related
issues that have dominated negotiations
during the annual meeting in past years,
they did discuss another prominent whale
conservation issue that needs attention
– the protection of smaller whales, such
as dolphins and porpoises.
That discussion coincided
with the release during the meeting on Wednesday
of Small Cetaceans: The Forgotten Whales,
a new WWF report stating that small whales
are disappearing from the world’s oceans
and waterways as they fall victim to fishing
gear, pollution, and habitat loss – compounded
by a lack of conservation measures such
as those developed for great whales.
Support for the recommendations
in the report at the meeting came from Australian
Environment Minister Peter Garrett, who
simultaneously announced an AU$500,000 pledge
to the IWC for the conservation and protection
of smaller whales. Meanwhile, Belgium called
for a review of work on conservation and
management for small cetaceans to take place
before IWC 62 in 2010.
“It is time for the
IWC to build on these commitments, to become
a modern 21st century convention, and to
dedicate itself to the conservation of all
whales, great and small,” Dr. Lieberman
said.
