19 March 2010
Doha, Qatar — Governments have completely
failed to pull bluefin tuna back from the
brink of 'commercial extinction': it would
have been so easy,
listen to the scientists, witness the failure
of the exiting management group, and agree
to protection under CITES - Convention for
the Trade in Endangered Species. Instead
they allowed the largest tuna consuming
nations undermine a vote that would have
seen bluefin listed under Appendix I.
A stupid and short-sighted
decision
Is this it? A quick vote and tuna is forgotten?
There is no lack of evidence that bluefin
tuna is being endangered by the very fisheries
management body supposed to save it. Yet,
vested interests have been allowed to put
an entire species on the way to extinction.
The governments who voted against the Appendix
I listing for bluefin tuna did not have
their people's interest in mind. Short-sighted
decisions like this show a definite lack
of concern for the species' well-being and,
to be blunt, stupidity.
We thought the tragedy
of the cod fishery in Newfoundland would
have been a lesson kept in mind. It appears,
though, that not only are the governments
responsible for overfishing bluefin tuna
unable to look to the future, they can't
even remember lessons from the past.
"The failure of
countries to support proper protection for
Atlantic bluefin tuna means business as
usual for those whose only interest in the
species is short term profit," said
Oliver Knowles, from our Oceans team at
the meeting. "It is an own goal by
Japan. By pushing for a few more years of
this luxury product it has put the future
of bluefin, and the future of its own supply
at serious risk."
On the brink of exctinction
There is no question bluefin tuna is in
serious trouble. In 1999, we showed how
in the Mediterranean bluefin tuna stocks
had collapsed by 80 percent. Ten years later,
scientists found that the population of
Atlantic bluefin tuna is below 15 percent
of what it was before commercial fishing
began.
This sorry state of
affairs is a combination of ever-growing
demand for bluefin on international markets
and atrocious management of the species.
The International Commission for the Conservation
of Atlantic Tunas (ICCAT), the management
body responsible for Atlantic bluefin, has
repeatedly ignored the advice of its own
scientists and failed to tackle overfishing
and pirate fishing of the species. ICCAT
couldn't manage its way out of a paper bag,
and has been deemed an 'international disgrace'
by an independent review.
It is outrageous that
a species has been (mis)managed to the brink
of exctinction. Is this the best that modern
fisheries management can deliver? To have
abused a species so badly that it now faces
commercial exctinction is a damning indictement
on modern fisheries management.
It's a message that
many have already heard. Top Michelin starred
French chefs have taken bluefin off the
menu. Joanna Lumley, Ted Danson, Alan Rickman
and among many famous names that recognise
bluefin is now as endangered as rhinos are
- and deserves the same protection.
What's left to do?
What now? This might have been the last
chance fo bluefin tuna. One glimmer of hope
remains, however. Greenpeace campaigns for
a network of marine reserves to be established
on 40 percent of the world's oceans. Such
a network could protect essential spawning
grounds and give species like bluefin tuna
a life-saving break. After today's CITES
decision more than ever, if we want fish
tomorrow, we need marine reserves today.
+ More
'Global Shame' declared
on coal plant
22 March 2010 - Prunerov,
Czech Republic — Twelve Greenpeace activists
have climbed the 300 metre high chimney
of the Prunerov II coal-fired power station,
in the Czech Republic, and hung a banner
denouncing plans to extend the life of climate
changing plant as a ‘Global Shame’. The
Czech government doesn’t seem to care about
the problems it’s causing in places like
the Pacific. Despite objections from the
Federated Sates of Micronesia (FSM), a nation
whose existence is threatened by climate
change, the Czech government is hell bent
on extending the life of the country’s single
biggest source of carbon emissions. Now
Greenpeace is taking action.
Terapii Williams from
the Cook Islands has come to Prunerov to
support this action. He warned: “Pacific
nations are endangered by rising sea levels
and rising sea temperatures. Our homes are
threatened and the marine ecosystems on
which we depend are being damaged. The very
existence of whole nations and cultures
is at stake. If industrialised countries
like the Czech Republic continue to fuel
climate change, we are doomed.”
Update - March 24th
: The activists have now come down. The
minister which previously refused to talk
with is now willing to meet with Greenpeace.
We will keep you updated on hown this situation
evolves.
That would increase
the risks to the people of the Federated
States of Micronesia like other Pacific
Islanders who face losing their homes, food,
culture and traditions due to the impacts
of climate change. Impacts caused in large
part by climate killing coal stations.
The biggest carbon emitter
in the country
Prunerov is a huge power station – the single
biggest carbon emitter in Czech Republic;
its annual emissions are approximately 40
times those of the entire country of FSM.
Prunerov is reaching the end of its life,
and its operator, CEZ, wants to expand it
and keep it open for 25 more years. Burning
coal is the single biggest cause of climate
change. Not only does CEZ plan on continuing
the use of the climate destroying fuel,
it is also trying to avoid the few regulations
that would force the new blocks to emit
less. Under Czech law, CEZ is legally obliged
to assess the climate impacts of the plan,
but they have refused to do so.
Transboundary consequences
In December, FSM submitted their opinion
in a transboundary Environmental Impacts
Assessment (EIA) of the new plan, stressing
that climate impacts of the project had
not been assessed by CEZ and asked for the
expansion plans to be dropped.
Made up of over 600
low-lying islands in the Pacific, FSM is
put at a high risk by CO2 emissions. Both
sea-level rise caused by climate change
and land erosion caused by ocean acidification
are causing great concern there – and both
are caused by the kind of carbon emissions
that monster power-plants like Prunerov
produce.
“We are not certain
if our biggest threat is from ocean acidification
that will erode our islands from underneath,
or from sea level rise that could submerge
our islands under the sea, or from changes
in weather and typhoon intensity that could
make inhabiting our islands impossible.
But we know that our continued peaceful
existence is totally at risk. We know that
the enemy that gives rise to these threats
is climate change. And we know that to survive,
we must act now."
President Mori of the
FSM More than the butterfly effect
Major emitters have to stop living under
the impression their carbon addiction doesn’t
have consequence. Coal burned on one side
of the world is threatening the existence
of countries on the other side like FSM
– it’s not simply a butterfly effect but
a direct consequence.
A report by Det Norske
Veritas, commissioned for the Environment
Ministry, found that the plans submitted
by CEZ did not meet the technical standards
required. When Environment Minister Dusik
told his Prime Minister he intended to reject
CEZ’s plans he was told that was impossible.
Rather than accept this he resigned. It
is indeed a dark day for the Czech Republic
when a minister must do the bidding of a
corporation or resign. But we applaud Dusik
for taking a stand.
This fight isn’t over:
building permits need to be obtained, complying
with pollution prevention control. Greenpeace
will continue to oppose the building of
this coal power plant, and demand the phase
out of other coal plants around the world
for the sake of the people in small island
states like those in the Pacific, who will
be hit fastest and hardest by climate impacts.
But, when it comes to climate change the
whole world is a small island state and
we must phase out coal use for all of our
sakes. The technology to power the world
with clean energy exists – we need to give
it a chance and start an Energy [R]evolution.
FSM and other low lying countries’ existence
depend on it.
