09/24/2024
The 69th meeting of the International Whaling Commission (IWC) started today in Lima, Peru, and Cet Law is here! We are attending for the first time as an observer non-profit organisation to the IWC, represented by our co-Director, Valentina DaCosta.
As unbelieve as it may sound, resuming commercial activities is still at the centre of the discussion at the most important international forum for the management and conservation of whales.
provide immense benefits to ecosystems and local communities, but disregarding these and the persistent scientific uncertainty on the status of some whale species populations, two resolutions have been put forward, aiming to lift the on commercial whaling and arguing for the utilisation of whales for food security. We hope these proposals will be quickly dismissed.
The good news is that those pushing for these harmful decisions against whales are a minority! Like-minded contracting governments, with the support of amazing , have done amazing work putting forth resolutions to reaffirm the necessary role of the IWC, the need to protect the moratorium and to further whale conservation, including those about:
🐋 A proposal to establish a whale sanctuary in the South Atlantic Ocean co-sponsored by the governments of Argentina, Brazil, and Uruguay -submitted repeatedly since 1998- There is no better time for this proposal to pass than now while in the Buenos Aires Group region!
🐋 The international legal obligations in commercial whaling activities.
🐋 The synergies between the IWC, the CBD GBF and the BBNJ Agreement
🐋 The co-operation with CCAMLR in Antarctica IWC
The day will kick-start discussing a new -and much-needed- definition of a quorum for decision-making. The current definition is broad and reaching a quorum to decide on crucial issues for cetacean conservation, like the South Atlantic Whale Sanctuary, has been hampered in the past by the wicked practice of whaling nations walking out the room before voting takes place.
Cet Law contributed to the work of the Working Group on Operational Effectiveness on quorum. It has been suggested that the amendment to the quorum rule should be adopted by consensus, which will be challenging by the very nature of the IWC.
We are crossing our fingers for a constructive discussion, always with the whale's welfare in mind!
