MOF, Alm.del - 2021-22 - Foreløbigt svar på spørgsmål 1423: Spm. om resolutionsforslag, om implementering af et bevarings- og forvaltningsprogram for hvalbestande, som på sigt har til formål at løfte moratoriet og udvikle hvalindustrien, til udenrigsministeren

Miljø- og Fødevareudvalget 2021-22
MOF Alm.del
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IWC/68/8.1/01/EN

Plenary Agenda Item 8.1

Draft Resolution on Marine Plastic Pollution

Submitted by the Czech Republic on behalf of EU Member States parties to the

International Convention for the Regulation of Whaling (ICRW)'

CONFIRMING that the impact of marine plastic pollution on cetaceans is a priority concern for the

International Whaling Commission (IWC);

RECOGNISING that plastic pollution spans five of the eight priority areas of environmental concern

identified by the IWC Scientific Committee and endorsed by the Commission in 1997;

RECALLING the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable

Development adopted in September 2015 by the United Nations General Assembly, and especially

Goal 14 to Conserve and sustainably use the oceans, seas and marine resources, which includes the

following target 14.1: By 2025, prevent and significantly reduce marine pollution of all kinds, in

particular from land-based activities, including marine debris and nutrient pollution;

RECALLING Resolution 2018-3 on Ghost Gear Entanglement Among Cetaceans;

RECOGNISING the transboundary nature of marine plastic pollution and the importance of regional

and international cooperation by IWC Contracting Governments and other international

Organisations, including inter alia the UN Environment Assembly (UNEA), Convention on Biological

Diversity (CBD), Convention on Migratory Species (CMS), Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO),

Arctic Council and International Maritime Organisation (IMO);

EMPHASISING the alarming scale of actual and projected increases in plastic and the adverse impact

of marine plastic pollution on cetaceans, which is more substantial than previously thought;

RECOGNISING the IWC's unique global role and mandate in understanding and addressing the

impacts of plastic pollution on cetaceans that have serious conservation and welfare implications.

THEREFORE THE COMMISSION:

COMMENDS the adoption by the UN Environment Assembly of Resolution UNEP/EA.5/Res.14

agreeing to convene an intergovernmental negotiating committee (INC) to develop an international

legally binding instrument on plastic pollution, including in the marine environment;

DIRECTS the Secretariat to explore options for the IWC to engage as a stakeholder within the INC

process;

ENDORSES the outcome of the December 2019 marine debris workshop, relevant reports of the

Scientific Committee and the Conservation Committee workplan on marine debris {to be discussed

at IWC68);

DIRECTS the IWC Secretariat to explore ways to increase collaboration and cooperation with regional

and international organisations, including Arctic Council, Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO),

Internationa Maritime Organisation (IMO), Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) and Convention

on Migratory Species (CMS) to share information, avoiding overlap and develop and implement best

practice to prevent and mitigate marine plastic pollution impacts on cetaceans;

REQUESTS the Scientific Committee to consider to contribute to the assessment of the impact of

marine plastic pollution on cetaceans, including by the collection and collation of appropriate data

from around the world;

! Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Esto!

Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Lithua

Spain and Sweden

, Finland, France, Germany, Greece,

, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovak Republic, Slovenia,

18/08/202

Miljø- og Fødevareudvalget 2021-22

MOF Alm.del - foreløbigt svar på spørgsmål 1423

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MOF, Alm.del - 2021-22 - Foreløbigt svar på spørgsmål 1423: Spm. om resolutionsforslag, om implementering af et bevarings- og forvaltningsprogram for hvalbestande, som på sigt har til formål at løfte moratoriet og udvikle hvalindustrien, til udenrigsministeren

IWC/68/8.1/01/EN

Plenary Agenda item 8.1

REQUESTS the Scientific Committees to consider a global risk assessment identifying “hotspots”

potentially through the modelling of increased exposure levels of plastic ingestion and

entanglement. This could integrate the biological characteristics of different species of cetaceans and

plastic dispersion models.

REQUESTS the Conservation Committee, Scientific Committee and Whale K ng Methods and

Welfare Issues Working Group to consider to facilitate pilot projects on gear marking in hot spot

areas of cetacean entanglement;

RECOMMENDS Contracting Governments to report relevant information on marine plastic pollution

and plastic ingestion in stranded animals in their voluntary conservation and national Scientific

Progress reports;

RECOMMENDS the IWC Secretariat to add marine debris mapping to its engagement with the

Important Marine Mammal Areas (IMMAs) process;

REQUESTS the Secretariat to develop a strategy for the IWC to eliminate single-use plastics in all

meetings and the day-to-day operations of the Secretariat.

REQUESTS the Secretariat to report back to IWC69 on progress made in the implementation of this

Resolution.

DRAFT RESOLUTION ON FOOD SECURITY

Submitted by Gambia, Rep of Guinea, Cambodia, and Antigua and Barbuda

WHEREAS the Food and Agricultural Organization of the United Nations (FAO) was established on 16

October 1945 to defeat global hunger and has 194 Member States, 2 Associate Members and 1

Member Organization;

WHEREAS the International Convention for the Regulation of Whaling (ICRW) was signed on December

2, 1946 and that the International Whaling Commission (IWC) has 88 Member States;

WHEREAS the United Nations estimate that the global population is expected to increase from 7.2

billion today — of which 870 million are designated as hungry — to 9.6 billion by 2050;

WHEREAS the FAO has as its vision, “A world in which the responsible and sustainable use of fisheries

and aquaculture resources makes an appreciable contribution to human well-being, food security and

poverty alleviation”;

WHEREAS the FAO has as its mission, “To strengthen global governance and the managerial and

technical capacities of members and to lead consensus building towards improved conservation and

utilization of aquaculture resources”;

RECALLING that the ICRW recognizes in its preamble, “that it is in the common interest to achieve the

optimal level of whale stocks as rapidly as possible without widespread economic and nutritional

distress”;

RECALLING the right of every person to an adequate standard of living including food as stated in the

Universal Declaration of Human Rights;

RECALLING paragraph 158 of the outcome document of the UN Conference on Sustainable

Development (Rio+20 “The Future We Want”, 20-22 June 2012) conveying the “importance of the

conservation and sustainable use of the oceans and seas and of their resources for sustainable

development, including through their contributions to poverty eradication, sustained economic

growth, food security and creation of sustainable livelihoods and decent work, while at the same time

protecting biodiversity and the marine environment and addressing the impacts of climate change”;

RECALLING the United Nations Millennium Development Goals which aim, “to halve between 1990

and 2015 the proportion of people who suffer from hunger”;

RECALLING that UN Sustainable Development Goal 14 is to, “Conserve and sustainably use the oceans,

seas and marine resources for sustainable development”;

RECALLING the UN DESA 2014 to “improve human well-being and social equity, while significantly

reducing environmental risks and ecological scarcities";

NOTING that the responsible and sustainable management of the fisheries sector remains a critical

objective to strengthen food and nutrition strategies within developing countries;

NOTING that whales have been harvested for nutritional needs for thousands of years;

IWC/68/8.2/01/EN

Plenary Agenda Item 8.2

IWC/68/8.2/01/EN

Plenary Agenda Item 8.2

NOTING that the FAO has established five strategic objectives namely:

. Help eliminate hunger, food insecurity and malnutrition;

. Make agriculture, forestry and fisheries more productive and sustainable;

. Reduce rural poverty;

. Enable inclusive and efficient agriculture food systems;

. Increase the resilience of livelihoods to disasters.

NOTING further that IWC members are Member States of the FAO;

RECOGNIZING the importance of food and nutritional security to the world’s poorest and the need to

engage in responsible and sustainable management of marine resources;

RECOGNIZING the value of world cultural diversity, the existence of different food production

methods, and the individuals and commun t'es that practice sustainable hunting under the Aboriginal

Subsistence Whaling (ASW) of the IWC;

AFFIRMING our solidarity with communities whose food supply depends primarily on whales,

considering their nutritional needs, cultura identities and livelihoods;

AFFIRMING the inherent link between food security and nutrition, preservation of cultural identity and

security of livelihoods when delivering on g oba sustainable development goals;

CONSIDERING that convergence of the visions of the FAO and the IWC and cooperation between them

will further enhance the ability of both organizations to fulfill their respective missions;

NOW THEREFORE THE COMMISSION:

REAFFIRMS Article 25 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rghts stating the right of all persons to

an adequate standard of living including food;

URGES Parties to take into consideration the need to ensure, among others, food security and

nutrition, preservation of cultural identity and security of livelihoods in any decision making;

URGES the parties to take into consideration the Blue Economy and Blue Growth perspectives in

relation to food security for optimized benefits (economic and non-economic) from the marine

ecosystem, in that way promoting societal foot print.

RESOLVES to set up an ad hoc committee to recommend how the IWC can in the future take into

consideration the need to achieve food and nutritional security for many of the world’s populations

when making changes to the Schedule;

INSTRUCTS the Secretariat to forward this Resolution to the Food and Agricultural Organization of the

United Nations with a request for increased exchange of information between the FAO and the IWC.

18/08/2022

RECOGNIZING that the International Convention for the Regulation of Whaling (hereinafter referred

to as “the Convention”) was concluded “to provide for the proper conservation of whale stocks and

thus make possible the orderly development of the whaling industry”;

ACKNOWLEDGING that most whale stocks were over exploited for many years and that through the

implementation of careful conservation and management measures by the IWC whale stock

populations have significantly increased.

FURTHER ACKNOWLEDGING that the 1982 moratorium on whaling was established as a temporary

measure that should have been reviewed within 10 years of its implementation.

RECOGNIZING that significant scientific progress has been made by the commission, leading to a

better understanding of the nature and the abundance of whale stocks, and that most whale stocks

are for being significantly increased since the moratorium.

NOTING that in 1994 the commission adopted a robust and risk averse procedure for calculating

quotas for abundant stocks of baleen whales (known as Revised Management Procedure (RMP)) and

the findings by the Scientific Committee that stocks of some whale species are abundant;

RECALLING, that the IWC agreed that before the RMP is implemented and the moratorium is lifted an

inspection and observation scheme must be in place to ensure that agreed catch limits are not

exceeded;

FURTHER RECALLING the commission began negotiations towards the development of an inspection

and observation scheme (Revised Management Scheme (RMS)}.

REALIZING that the Commission made significant progress towards the development of an inspection

and observation scheme (RMS), but reached an impasse in 2007 due to the failure to reach agreement

on a combination of scientific and non-scientific facts that comprises the Revised Management

Scheme (RMS).

BEARING IN MIND that any conservation and management measures for the harvesting of whale

resources including catch limits for sustainable whaling, must be supported by inspection and

observation strategies that are based on the best scientific evidence available;

NOTING that sustainable whaling contributes to livelihoods, food security and poverty reduction in

coastal communities; and also cognizant of the commitment of IWC countries to the United Nations

sustainable development goals, requiring the commitment of all countries to ensure that no

communities are left behind.

Draft Resolution for the Implementation of a Conservation and Management

Program for Whale Stocks aimed towards the lifting of the moratorium and

the orderly Development of the Whaling industry

Submitted by Antigua and Barbuda

IWC/68/8.3/01/EN

Plenary Agenda Item 8.3

18/08/2022

IWC/68/8.3/01/EN

Plenary Agenda Item 8.3

ACKNOWLEDGE that it is in the best effort and common interest of all Contracting Governments that

the Commission move towards a more balanced approach in consideration of its mandate of ensuring

the proper and effective conservation of whale stocks and also the orderly development of whaling;

NOW THEREFORE THE COMMISSION,

WELCOMES the exchange of views among Contracting Governments, realizing that objective

discussions can lead to meaningful solutions aimed at providing a proper conservation and

management strategy for whale resources.

DECIDES to strengthen a process of collaboration among contracting governments to ensure

that the commission improves its work in realizing the objectives of its Convention (ICRW).

DECIDES to establish a Special Working Group, to be chaired by the Chairman of the

Commission, members of this working group will comprise representatives of the contracting

governments.

DECIDES to entrust the Special Working Group with:

- Reviewing the work of the Commission in an effort to make an assessment for the

Commission to resume work on the implementation of the RMP and the development of

a negotiating framework for reconvening negotiations for a monitoring control

surveillance program that would give support to the RMP;

- Make recommendations to the Commission on the basis of the results of above;

INSTRUCTS the Special Working Group to report the result of the review and

recommendations in paragraph 4 above at the next Commission meeting in 2024.

REQUESTS the Scientific Committee to provide the Special Working Group with advice on the

best scientific evidence available, in the performance of functions entrusted in this Resolution,

on any scientific issues contributing to sustainable whaling irrespective of types of whaling.