WWF - WWF Germany office

Tuna commission urged to add fishing halt to trade ban to save bluefin

2009-11-07

Recife, Brazil – WWF, the global conservation organization, is urging countries meeting in Brazil this week to agree urgently on a temporary fishing ban for the beleaguered Atlantic bluefin tuna, as an essential measure to avoid imminent stock collapse.

The International Commission for the Conservation of Atlantic Tunas (ICCAT) is gathering in Recife, Brazil for its annual meeting, where the 48 contracting parties are under pressure to decide on measures that will ensure the long-term survival of a species that has long been the victim of illegal and over-fishing, disregard for rules and science, and being targeted by far too many boats.

“WWF wants to see Atlantic bluefin tuna surviving long into the future – both the amazing species and the fishing industry it has supported for thousands of years,” said Dr Sergi Tudela, Head of Fisheries at WWF Mediterranean.

“This is ICCAT’s role, to ensure the sustainable commercial exploitation of bluefin tuna, but it has failed spectacularly in this mandate and there is no option left but to stop fishing and let this wild animal recover. It is the only way forward, there is simply no Plan B.”

ICCAT’s own analysis shows that a moratorium will give the best chance of recovery to the seriously overexploited bluefin tuna stocks in the Atlantic Ocean and Mediterranean.

The organization’s scientific committee analysed fish stocks at a special meeting in October, demonstrating with their data that Atlantic bluefin tuna fulfils the criteria to be listed on Appendix I of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES), as proposed by the Principality of Monaco and to be voted on next March – a step that would ban all international commercial trade.

WWF sees the trade ban as a necessary parallel measure to a moratorium on fishing. ICCAT’s scientific analysis also shows that a suspension of fishing is the only measure with a chance of ensuring Atlantic bluefin tuna stocks no longer meet the criteria for CITES Appendix I by 2019.

The tuna commission astonished the world with a scheme
for continued overfishing that it labeled a recovery plan.

“Atlantic bluefin tuna stocks are sadly collapsing even faster than ICCAT’s reputation,” added Sergi Tudela of WWF. “For ICCAT to justify its existence and show the world it is capable of responsible fisheries management, how can it do anything but stick to the best available science, close the Atlantic bluefin tuna fishery now and give the fish a breather?

"Anything else would be a slap in the face to science, a slap in the face to those who care about sustainable seafood, and a slap in the face to ICCAT’s own survival – if there’s no more fish, there’s no more fish to manage.”

The latest science shows that Atlantic bluefin tuna’s spawning population has declined to below 15% of pre-fishing levels – and may even have dropped to under 10%.

Meeting just a year ago, ICCAT’s members ritually tossed overboard the advice of their own scientists and did not even put the fishing closure supported by its own review on the agenda. The tuna commission astonished the world with a scheme for continued overfishing that it labeled a recovery plan but that WWF named a “collapse plan”. In response, increasing numbers of global retailers, restaurants, chefs and consumers are stopping buying, selling, serving and eating this endangered species.

For more information: Gemma Parkes, +39 346 387 3237, gparkes@wwfmedpo.org

Notes to editor
 Footage and photos available on request
 For more on WWF’s tuna campaign, see www.panda.org/tuna

G20 finance ministers fail to reach green on climate financing

2009-11-07

St Andrews, Scotland – Finance ministers of the world’s dominant economies failed to reach agreement on the financing required for a global agreement to stave off catastrophic climate change, WWF said today as the G20 finance ministers meeting here broke up with no resolution to issues dividing developed and emerging economies.

The lack of progress made by the G20 in St. Andrews, follows another week of inconclusive negotiations in UN climate talks in Barcelona as the world heads towards the crucial UN climate conference in Copenhagen in a month’s time.

With the G20 now having considered the climate financing issue three times without reaching common ground, WWF remains sceptical about today's promise to make further progress before Copenhagen.

“The G20 Finance Ministers meeting turned out to be a mostly irrelevant sideshow on the way to the talks in Copenhagen in a months’ time," said Dr Richard Dixon, Director of WWF Scotland.

"Failure to come to agreement here is a major disappointment.

“This is a group that can throw money at collapsing banks but cannot find adequate figures for the far worse challenge to the global economy of a collapsing climate system."

In detail, the G20 ministers acknowledged the need to increase significantly and urgently the scale of funding but failed to make any reference to the sums required, estimated to be around $160bn a year of public financing.

They also failed to agree on new sources of funding for a climate deal, such as auctioning emissions credits and levies on aviation and shipping.

"Talk of a financial transaction tax which has the potential to raise hundreds of billions in new funding every year turned out to be a red herring without solid political support," Dr Dixon said.

The G20 agreed some principals on a mechanism to administer and distribute these funds but failed to turn these into concrete proposals and - despite last week's pledges from Europe - no new money was put on the table to help the most vulnerable countries adapt to a changing climate.

It is estimated the immediate need for the most vulnerable nations is around $10bn a year.

WWF endorsed the G20s continuing professed interest in winding back fossil fuel use subsidies, but said the group needed to focus its main attention on getting an effective global deal on climate.

“If we are to keep the planet below the danger threshold of a 2ºC temperature rise, the rich nations of the world are going to have to help developing countries follow a low-carbon development path and help them cope with the impacts of current and future climate change," Dr Dixon said.

"We wanted to see solid proposals on how the money would be raised, managed and distributed and an indication of how soon the countries most vulnerable to climate change will receive assistance. The G20 has failed to deliver and the real work will now have to be done at Copenhagen.”

New recipe for a fast acting Europe to profit from going it alone on climate action

2009-11-03

Berlin, Germany – A major new European study of the costs of climate protection shows that avoiding dangerous consequences of climate change at manageable costs is only possible with early action – but Europe would profit from taking a leadership role even if other countries continued to hesitate.

RECIPE – a Report on Energy and Climate Policy in Europe, conducted by the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research (PIK) and four other European research institutes and supported by global financial services provider Allianz and WWF, also found that distributing the costs of climate protection would not overburden any region of the world.

“Climate protection is economically manageable and feasible,” said Professor Ottmar Edenhofer, chief economist at PIK. “For Europe, getting an early start on comprehensive climate protection, even unilaterally, will pay for itself through significantly lower costs.”

Professor Edenhofer, also Chairman of the Response Strategies Working Group of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), said globally a key mechanism for keeping overall costs of climate protection down would be financial transfers to emerging nations.

“The key to affordable climate protection is to create binding political conditions to take effect immediately for the coming decade,” Professor Edenhofer said..

Wasting the next decade would increase costs by nearly half

The scientists compared three energy economy models and used them as a basis for climate policy recommendations for Europe. RECIPE drew up pathways to reduced emissions for the major CO2-intensive sectors of energy, cement & steel, transportation and agriculture, finding that effective climate protection measures would cost just one year of delayed economic growth by 2050.

Delays in implementing such measures would decrease the likelihood of avoiding dangerous climate change further by having to accept overshooting emissions concentrations. It would increase the costs of mitigation, with wasting the next decade to take meaningful action on climate change resulting in an increase of mitigation costs of at least 46 % compared to early action.

These scenarios also did not take into account the massive costs of damage due to climate change caused by not implementing climate protection measures, making climate protection measures look even more manageable.

The study estimates that the window for ambitious climate action would close completely by 2020.

Convinced of the overwhelming importance of investing in the transformation to a low-carbon economy, Allianz and WWF formed a climate partnership on climate change in 2007 after two years of joint activity globally and at regional levels which included significant studies of climate risk and costs in the US. The company noted that the fact that in global industry some 40 percent of insured losses were now attributable to climate effects was a compelling reason for it to be involved in climate protection.

“There is no other market that needs and will experience such a sudden and sustainable growth in investments in the next ten years as the market for climate protection and the decarbonization of the economic processes,” said Joachim Faber, member of the Allianz SE Board of Management and CEO of Allianz Global Investors.

“But the willingness of our customers to invest depends upon reliable conditions. It is now up to governments to provide these conditions. This includes no t only reliable paths toward reduction targets but market-based economic elements such as the auctioning of all CO2 certificates, the establishment of global cap and trade systems, rapid implementation of the EU Directive to promote renewable energies that guarantees investors reliable feed-in tariffs, and stronger subsidies for research into low carbon technologies.”

Significantly, as countries shape up to the Copenhagen UN climate change conference in December unwilling to move themselves in the absence of commitments from others, the report finds that Europe has little to lose from bold and unilateral climate action.

Important not to give carbon intensive industries a break

One interpretation from the report is summed-up by Allianz and WWF: “The real world requires real first-movers and RECIPE demonstrates that Europe has every reason to move first,” they said. “By moving first in implementing ambitious carbon reduction targets, Europe’s economy benefits as it foregoes investment into carbon intensive infrastructure that otherwise would have to be dismantled well before the end of its economic life.”

Central to avoiding dangerous climate change was a global carbon price, best achieved by integrating regional carbon markets. However, it was important not to give carbon intensive industries a break from carbon pricing as this distorted crucial investment decisions by both industry and financial investors. Full auctioning of permits was the preferred option.

To link developing countries into such a global carbon market, clear incentives for decarbonization and financial transfers not immediately based on binding reduction targets for developing countries need to be developed. One possible framework were Nationally Appropriate Mitigation Actions which need to be supported by capacity building, technology transfer, financial investments, and reporting requirements that help encourage mitigation efforts.

Of the largest emitters, the USA would minimize its costs with an immediate introduction of carbon targets while China would face expensive costs in replacing costly infrastructure unless it significantly diverted from its current carbon intensive pattern of development.

The study also examined various options for distributing the greatly reduced global carbon budget required to keep the world below the threshold of unacceptable risks of catastrophic climate change.

“Based on the RECIPE results, Allianz and WWF conclude that a per capita allocation that gives developing and emerging economies some headroom for development with a subsequent participation in the reduction efforts represents one possible compromise accommodating most of the negotiation asks on the table prior to Copenhagen,” the report said.

Once upon a time in a far away land there was a forest…

2009-10-28

Frankfurt, Germany – Significant amounts of destruction of tropical forests could be involved in producing books for German children, an investigation by WWF-Germany has shown.

With fewer childrens’ books being produced in Germany and even fewer being produced from German paper pulp, WWF Germany subjected 51 German children’s books produced in south east Asia to analysis for the presence of tropical timbers not associated with plantations.

More than a third of the books tested positive for significant traces of tropical wood, including one which ironically commenced with the words “We are writing this in the year 2805. The human race has left the planet earth… nothing grows here anymore…”.

The results are likely to understate the problem, as much plantation pulp comes from cleared areas of tropical forest with well documented impacts on species which can include endangered tigers, elephants and rhinoceros, human rights violations and massive contributions to greenhouse gas emissions.

“We chose children’s books as a striking amount of the production has been relocated to Asia, with nearly two thirds of German children’s books imports now coming from China alone. The relocation of the book production from Germany to Asia has grown nearly tenfold during the last ten years” said Johannes Zahnen, Forest expert WWF Germany.

“There is also the irony that it is children who have the most stake in the future and who will be most impacted by unsustainable book production.”

Risks that wood used is from illegal logging is high as the Chinese paper industry has close and increasing ties with companies active in areas of Indonesia, where forest clearing is destroying large areas of peat forest shielding vast sources of carbon.

Forest draining and destruction in the Sumatran province of Riau alone results in greater emissions than the industrialised nation of the Netherlands, with 40 per cent of the destruction being tied to the company Asia Pulp and Paper (APP) and its suppliers.

APP, in turn, is increasing its inroads into the Chinese pulp and paper industry, through associated companies such as Gold East Paper which provides paper for books printing and Yalong Paper Products, which includes direct production of picture and drawing books for children among its activities.

WWF Germany is calling on German publishing houses to use paper certified as coming from sustainable sources, used recycled paper and give priority to paper bleached without the use of chlorine products.

“We supply scorecard to find the most environmentally friendly alternative for a given product.”

NGOs join forces to save a living Danube threatened by inland navigation plans

2009-10-09

“Inland navigation can be considered as a viable alternative to road freight only if both global CO2 emissions and local impacts on river ecosystems are considered equally”, says Orieta Hulea, Head of Freshwater at the WWF Danube-Carpathian Programme. “Navigation projects that require regulation of the river bed and bank impede the multitude of services, free flowing rivers provide to society, such as drinking water supply, flood control, acting as a natural filter for pollutants or support of healthy fisheries. These aspects must be considered when discussing transport plans and projects. Otherwise in areas like the Danube environmental damages risks are higher than benefits”.

As part of the European TEN-T programme, infrastructure projects are planned for the Danube on a combined length of 1000 km including the last free-flowing stretches in Germany, the Danube National Park between Vienna and Bratislava, and large stretches of the middle and lower Danube in Hungary, Romania and Bulgaria.

Current plans in Hungary would affect groundwater supply and natural areas protected under national and international law. Proposed dredging works and closing of lateral arms on the Danube in Romania will endanger the fish population due to the loss of the main spawning grounds especially for sturgeons, which are already on the brink of extinction as a direct consequence of previous river regulation.

With more than 80 million people depending directly on the economic value of its river basin natural systems, the Danube is the lifeline of Europe. “In every village and town along the Danube farmers, fishermen and small companies are depending on the natural river eco-system,” reminds Harald Kutzenberger, IAD General Secretary. “We should not easily risk thousands of local jobs along the Danube as a result of gaps in the Environmental Impact Assessments – and loose the strong potential for eco-tourism and rural development.”

NGOs are calling for the EU and national governments to guarantee and regain functioning ecosystem processes, respect socio-economic needs of regional and local economies, and prove that navigation projects meet all legal requirements, in particular compliance with the non-deterioration clause of the European Union’s Water Framework Directive (hereafter WFD) as well as achievement of the environmental objectives of the Danube River Basin Management Plan and Natura 2000 sites.

For further information:
Orieta Hulea, Head of Freshwater, WWF Danube Carpathian Programme, Tel. + 40 21 3174996,
E-mail: ohulea(at)wwfdcp.ro

Harald Kutzenberger, General Secretary, International Association for Danube Research, Tel. +43 676 328 33 12, e-mail: kutzenberger(at)iad.gs

Tiny ice figurines draw attention to big problem

2009-09-02

Berlin, Germany: 1,000 ice sculptures melted under the Berlin sun as symbols of the effects of climate change, drawing attention to a new WWF report on risks of Arctic warming.

The ice sculptures, handcrafted by Brazilian artist Nele Azevedo, were set up in a public area by WWF Germany to show the direct effect of climate change in the Arctic on the whole planet and the future of humanity and nature.

The sculptures began melting in 30 minutes.

The action coincided with the release of a major report on Arctic warming by WWF entitled Artic Feedbacks: The Impact on Global Climate Change, highlighting that the consequences of the rapid retreat of ice will not only affect the Artic region but the planet as a whole.

Only a few months away from the United Nations Climate change conference in Copenhagen in December, this report goes to show that climate change concerns must be the political priority for the coming months.

“What happens in the Arctic will have a direct impact on weather in wide parts of the planet. It isn’t local anymore,” said Martin Hiller, head of climate change Campaign at WWF International.

“Sea level could rise by one meter this century alone, threatening that quarter of humanity living near coasts.”

Warming in the Arctic could also substantially increase carbon dioxide and methane emissions in the atmosphere as a great quantity of those gases are stored in the Arctic’s frozen soils or wetlands, according to the report.

Wealthy world at risk from water woes elsewhere

2009-08-20

Stockholm, Sweden: A study of the water footprint of Germany emphasises how the developed world needs to care for developing world river basins supplying vast quantities of “virtual water” embedded in imported products and commodities, WWF told World Water Week delegates today.

While German households use 124 litres of water a day directly, individual Germans use 5288 litres of water a day when the water requirements of producing their food, clothes and other consumption items are included.

The report calculated Germany’s water footprint at 159.5 cubic kilometres of water annually, with only half coming from German rain and rivers.

The water embedded in coffee, soy and beef imports makes Brazil Germany’s largest water trading partner, followed by the Ivory Coast (cocoa, coffee, bananas and cotton), neighbours France and the Netherlands, the US and Indonesia (oilseeds, coffee, coconuts, cotton and cocoa).

Other countries carrying a significant water footprint from Germany include Ghana, India, Argentina and Nigeria and the increasingly drier Mediterranean lands of Spain, Italy and Turkey.

“Germany is a relatively water rich country but its reliance on water sourced from some of the drier areas of the world still makes it very vulnerable to the degradation of river catchments and groundwater supplies and water related impacts of climate change elsewhere,” said Martin Geiger, Head of Freshwater at WWF-Germany.

“National water footprints are underlining just how dependant the developed world is on water from areas where water management is relatively poor,” said Dr Stuart Orr, WWF International water policy officer.
“It therefore pays for wealthy nations to support the protection and better management of the river basins and aquifers of the developing world.”

Germany is to be commended for having already taken one of the most significant steps to caring for the sources of its water in being the only G8 nation to sign up to an international treaty designed to reduce conflict and promote appropriate water management on waters forming or crossing borders.

However, more than a decade since an overwhelming great majority of the world’s nations approved the UN Watercourses Convention, it still lacks enough signatories to come into effect although three quarters of the world’s countries share waters and 40 per cent of world population are in border catchments.

“Other major economies would do well to follow Germany’s example in signing up to the UN Watercourses Convention to provide a global framework for minimising the risks of disruption to the water supplies they depend on,” said Flavia Loures, who leads a WWF-initiated global campaign to have the convention brought into effect by 2011.

Danube Day -- fears amidst the celebrations

2009-06-28

Amidst the celebrations of this year's Danube Day on June 29, WWF is concerned about persisting threats to the Danube as a living river. Government and EU plans to remove “bottlenecks” for navigation could impact up to 1,000 km of the river’s most natural sections, and threaten to violate the non-deterioration clause of the EU Water Framework Directive.

Plans by the Romanian government to improve navigation between Calarasi and Braila on the Lower Danube could severely impact sturgeon migration routes, possibly pushing the already threatened fish species into extinction. WWF has tabled alternative solutions that would facilitate navigation while limiting negative impacts.

EU plans for developing the Danube as a major shipping corridor have called for the removal of "bottlenecks" on up to 1,000 km of the river's length. Traditional approaches to improving navigation involving damming, diking and dredging could have disastrous effects on the river, its natural goods and services.

WWF will present these and other concerns at public consultations on the Danube River Basin Management Plan that is being organized by the International Commission for the Protection of the Danube River in Bratislava on June 29-30.

The consultations are taking place within the framework of the EU Water Framework Directive, which calls for all rivers, lakes and coasts to achieve ‘good ecological status’ by 2015. European citizens have a key role to play in implementing the directive, which calls for the public to be informed and involved in the preparation of river basin management plans.

WWF has developed alternatives for promoting shipping while limiting damage to the Danube as a living river. The focus should first be on measures such as improved ship technology and logistics that do not require major changes to the river. Only after such alternatives are exhausted should much more expensive and non-reversible river modifications come into consideration.

WWF is also calling for increased attention to floodplain restoration in the Danube basin as a key measure for addressing climate change and securing ecosystem services, such as flood protection, drinking water provisioning and biodiversity.

According to a WWF commissioned study, the potential for floodplain restoration is much higher than countries have indicated in the draft river basin managment plan. Floodplains provide multiple benefits for humans and nature, securing a range of ecosystem services from flood protection to replenishing drinking water. Protecting and restoring floodplains can make a major and cost-effective contribution to addressing the challenge of climate change.

Romania has ambitious plans to restore over 400,000 ha of Danube floodplains, but work toward this ambitious goal is not planned before 2015.

Contact:
Andreas Beckmann, WWF Danube-Carpathian Programme, +43 676 84 27 28 216

Last shots come in for world's largest nature photo shoot

2009-06-21

A striking symmetry of wings as two gulls attack a grey heron on the Elbe in Germany. An ibex caught negotiating an absolutely impossible slope in Spain. A Hungarian bee eater of spectacular plumage snapped catching a bumblebee nearly as colourful.

These are among 100,000 images collected in the Wild Wonders of Europe project over the course of 114 missions. Come the conclusion of this endeavour, 66 professional photographers will have travelled to 48 European countries to document the wildlife of a continent often overshadowed by their more famous counterparts.

“Wild Wonders is an immensely valuable conservation initiative” Said WWF Director-General James Leape.

“It brings the work of WWF and other conservation organisations to life. These vivid images demonstrate that even in Europe there are still many undisturbed areas of natural beauty - and that our efforts to preserve them are paying dividends.”

Part of the mission of Wild Wonders of Europe is to inspire passion for wildlife in Europe and to change the perception that the whole continent is covered in buildings and roads.

Few people would know, for example, that Finland is the best place on Earth to view bears, wolves and wolverines living together, and that it is not uncommon to see several hundred vultures in the south of Spain in just one sitting.

“If we want these places and creatures to remain and flourish, we must inspire people to want to protect them. We hope that we can connect them to the heritage of this continent and make them realize how much there is worth saving.” Said Staffan Widstrand, Managing Director of the project

“Photography can have an enormous impact upon people’s perception. It can elicit emotion and understanding in a way that words often cannot.”

“This project will both excite and surprise those who have the opportunity to see it and we hope and feel that it will change the perception of wildlife in Europe.”

By July of this year, the photographers will have completed their planned 114 missions.

Then, in April 2010, to coincide with the international year of biodiversity, the Wild Wonders of Europe Great Wild Show Outdoor Exhibition series will be launched, and shown all across Europe, visiting many of its major cities over a period of 3 years.

WWF has been a keen supporter of the project from the start, and is proud to be the main conservation partner for Wild Wonders of Europe.

Civil society wants sustainable growth package from G-20

2009-04-02

WWF International Director General James Leape and others have signed an open letter addressed to G-20 heads of state on behalf of an "international global coalition for a green economy” asking the group to pick an economic stimulus package that supports sustainable growth.

Signatories include top leaders from environment, development, business and labour groups, such as the International Union for Conservation of Nature and the Bellagio Forum for Sustainable Development.

“We urge you to ensure that the entirety of the G20 emergency package supports three goals: (1) building economic resilience; (2) social justice and distributional equity by promoting decent work for all; (3) protection and sustainable use of the environment,” Leape and others wrote in the letter.

The letter goes on to ask G-20 leaders “to allocate $750 billion of this stimulus package, which is around 1% of global GDP, to investments that will build an inclusive and green economy.”

Established in 1999, the Group of Twenty, known better as the G-20, is composed of finance ministers, political leaders and central bank governors and aims to bring together industrialized and developing economies to discuss key issues in the global economy, according to its website. Heads of state are currently meeting to participate in the G-20 in London.

Download the letter here.

Interest grows in neglected global water treaty

2009-03-21

Instanbul, Turkey: Delegates of 14 countries attending the World Water Forum tonight signed pledges of support to a growing call to bring into force a global water treaty that has languished in limbo for more than a decade as anxiety grows about the increased potential for conflict in a world increasingly short of water.

The pledges were made at an awards ceremony held at the forum by a coalition of leading international and civil society organizations to “celebrate the accomplishments of the world’s leading countries in international water policy.”

Recognised by the awards were the 16 countries signed up to the UN International Convention on Non-Navigational Uses of International Watercourses (the UN Watercourses Convention) - Finland, Germany, Hungary, Iraq, Jordan, Lebanon, Libya, Namibia, Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, Qatar, South Africa, Sweden, Syria and Uzbekistan.

The delegates said they shared WWF’s concern that the poor coordination in river basin regulation between nations “represents a major threat to international peace and to the world’s energy and food security.” The pledge also noted that climate change would worsen the global water crisis.

Countires make a start on internal approval processes

The pledge to push for more countries to join the convention was signed by Slovenian President Danilo Tulk, and government delegates from Bangladesh, Benin, Burkina Faso, Chad, Czech Republic, Estonia, France, Ghana, Greece, Iraq, Niger, Sierra Leone, Spain, and Syria. Internal processes for ratification have already started in some of the 12 countries at the event not already party to the Convention.

Dr Shaddad Attili, head of the Palestine Water Authority also signed, following the reading of a declaration by President Mahmoud Abbas earlier during the Forum that Palestine would ratify the convention once it attained statehood. When that occurs the River Jordan will have the most coverage of any international watercourse, with four of its five riparian states acceding to the Convention.

The UN Watercourses Convention provides a framework for common and cooperative management for the rivers, lakes, wetlands and aquifers crossing or forming international borders. An overwhelming majority of nations voted for the Convention in the UN General Assembly in 1997, but fewer than half the required number have proceeded to ratify it a national level.

“If fully enacted it would provide a strong basis for sharing and caring for the water draining half the world’s land surface and vital to the water supplies of 40 per cent of humanity,” said Flavia Loures, WWF International Water Law and Policy Senior Program Officer

World Water Forum vague on bridging divides

The UN Watercourses Convention has been one of the most contentious topics at the World Water Forum, with specific mention of the convention and its potential for bridging divides on water excluded from the Ministerial Declaration due to be issued on World Water Day (March 22) tomorrow.

“It is ironic in the extreme that with a World Water day themed around sharing transboundary waters the ministerial declaration to be issued that day takes great pains to avoid mentioning the only available instrument for global co-operation,” Ms. Loures said.

In lively World Water Forum discussions on the UN Watercourses Convention, it was also seen as a key legal instrument to foster cooperation on climate change adaptation in shared freshwater systems, crucial as river flows falter and extreme events such as floods and droughts increase in frequency and severity.
Millions of dollars in aid funds for developing cooperative water management schemes for some of the world’s major – and most contentious – river systems also remain available but unapplied for, although some of the countries concerned have been able to cooperate on marine issues.

The multi-stakeholder campaign to have the UN Convention on Watercourses brought into effect is supported by the UN Secretary General’s Advisory Board on Water and Sanitation, the European Water Partnership, Conservation International, the Global Nature Fund, Living Lakes Partners, Green Cross International, IUCN and WWF, along with many governments in Europe and Africa.

“As climate change further exacerbates the water crisis, the difficulties and cost of expanding and sustaining water security will rise, and potentially very steeply,” said Green Cross International President Alexander Likhotal.

“The risks from failing to act are increasingly understood to be high, and include economic instability, loss of quality of life and reversal of gains in poverty reduction, more frequent disaster and ecological degradation. Therefore, we are calling for a swift ratification of the Convention ."

WWF gives Europe a roadmap to Copenhagen

2009-02-27

Brussels, Belgium: With a series of critical European Union meetings on a new global climate deal about to begin, WWF has set out what Europe needs to do to grow in a green way while contributing to helping the world avoid passing the 2 degree threshold of warming that presents unacceptable risks of catastrophic climate change.

“There is a clear link to be made between ambitious climate policies and a new phase of economic growth,” said Stephan Singer, Director of Energy Programme at WWF International.

“The recent financial bailouts prove that when governments decide to fix a problem, money and regulatory instruments are there. There is no excuse to treat the climate crisis with less support and attention.”

The WWF roadmap to a successful new global agreement in Copenhagen in December would see Europe radically strengthen its announced commitments of cutting emissions by just 20 per cent by 2020 and 50 per cent by 2050.

European environment ministers will consider target developed and undeveloped country emissions to take to Copenhagen at Monday’s EU Environment Council meeting in Brussels.

Commit to zero net emissions

Based on various studies, including the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) scenarios, WWF says that emissions will have to be reduced by at least 80 percent by 2050 globally to keep warming below 2°C. In compliance with its fair share of responsibility, the EU must commit to net zero emissions by 2050.

The IPCC also said that industrial countries will have to reduce their greenhouse gases by between 25 and 40% by 2020. The current EU target is only 20%, with a possibility to increase to 30% if other developed nations will join an international agreement.

These targets are clearly at the lower end of the IPCC scale, and even lower in reality considering that EU countries are allowed to fulfil up to two thirds of their commitment by way of certificates for projects in developing countries (the so-called CDM credits).

At the forthcoming Economic and Financial Affairs Council (Ecofin) meeting on Tuesday March 10, European finance ministers will consider both the plan to boost economic recovery in Europe and financing climate protection measures.

WWF said Ecofin must come to grips with the fact that so far EU countries have failed to seriously face the challenge and to see the opportunities created by a greener economy.

Today, the fossil fuel energy sector in the EU-15 countries still receives about €20 billion of subsidies, equal to 0.2% Gross Domestic Product (GDP). Europe imports about 4.8 billion barrels of oil per year, equal to 3% of GDP. Natural gas imports are another 3% of GDP.

According to the European Commission, between 600,000 and 900,000 jobs can be created by renewable energy by 2020, compared to today’s 150,000 jobs. As a comparison, the cement and the steel sectors – some of those crying wolf about strong climate measure – employ about 60,000 and 300,000 people respectively.

With finance to developing countries being touted as a make or break issue at Copenhagen, WWF is calling for European contributions for clean technology and reduced deforestation in developing countries to
amount to €35 billion per year, in addition to the long-time promised 0.7% GDP for development aid.

Funding of climate protection measures (avoidance, adaptation and forest protection) needs to be sustainable, predictable and controlled in a transparent manner by the international community.

The European Commission’s current proposal also fails to address the enormous potential of energy efficiency, with an almost complete lack of concrete proposals for technology co-operation.

WWF says that the EU financing of technology development and research should be increased by a factor of 10 compared to current levels by 2020, particularly for renewable energies, energy efficiency and carbon capture and storage (CCS).

The EU should also promote the setting up of a technology action programme under the UNFCCC to protect intellectual property rights and promote innovation.

Outcomes from the Ecofin and Environment Council meetings are scheduled to be considered by EU Heads of State at a European Council meeting on Thursday 19th and Friday 20th March. Some issues however may carry over to when Sweden assumes the presidency of the EU

WWF warns over Dutch deal with German coal giant

2009-01-15

Zeist, Netherlands - The long partnership between WWF-Netherlands and the largest “green” Dutch energy-supplier Essent that has existed since 1995, may come to an end if Essent cannot continue its sustainable performance when it is taken over by the German energy-concern RWE.

Essent and RWE announced the takeover earlier this week and shareholders have already approved the deal. Finalization is subject to non-objection of the EU-authority that handles fair competition between companies.

RWE is known for its huge CO2-emissions. WWF-Germany reacted to the planned deal by stating that RWE is Europe’s “largest environment-spoiler”. “They have no qualms about investing in conventional coal-burning energy plants," said WWF-Netherlands CEO Johan van de Gronden.

The Dutch parliament will have a plenary debate on the takeover later this week. Essent have invited both WWF and RWE for negotiations about a partnership on sustainability.

RWE is a huge investor in conventional coal-fired power stations and the builder of many nuclear plants. One of their most recent plans is to build a nuclear power plant in Bulgaria, in a region that is considered hazardous because of earthquake risk.

Tuna commission comes up with "a disgrace, not a decision"

2008-11-24

Marrakech, Morocco - The commission tasked with preventing a collapse of the Mediterranean bluefin tuna fishery today opted for catch quotas still far higher than its own scientists recommend and leaving industrial fleets free to scoop up tuna at the height of its spawning period.

The International Commission for the Conservation of Atlantic Tunas (ICCAT), meeting in Marrakech, Morocco, for the past week, brushed aside its own review’s description of its management of the bluefin fishery as “an international disgrace” to endorse a total allowable catch (TAC) of 22,000 tonnes for next year.

ICCAT’s own scientists had recommended a TAC ranging 8,500 to 15,000 tonnes per year, warning there were real risks of the fishery collapsing otherwise. The scientists also urged a seasonal closure during the fragile spawning months of May and June, while today’s outcome allows industrial fishing in practice up to 20 June.

“This is not a decision, it is a disgrace which leaves WWF little choice but to look elsewhere to save this fishery from itself,” said Dr Sergi Tudela, head of WWF Mediterranean’s fisheries programme, speaking from Marrakech.

“Any alternative is preferable to an organization which boasts of its respect for science but where in a decade catches have gone from twice to four times the scientific recommendations, with massive legal and illegal overfishing. It is clear that the only thing to slow the fishery with ICCAT at the helm is running out of fish.”

The European Union drove today’s decision, supported by Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia, Egypt and Syria and later joined by Japan.

Japan had initially been party to a US, Canada, Mexico, Norway, Iceland and Brazil proposal, supported by a brace of developing nations, to fix the allowed catch at the upper levels recommended by scientists and closing the fishery for the full spawning period.

The debate has been marred by allegations of the European Commission threatening developing state members with trade retaliations should they support lower catch limits and extended closed seasons, with the names of some nations appearing and disappearing from the more scientifically-based proposals.

“ICCAT’s string of successive failures leaves us little option now but to seek effective remedies through trade measures and extending the boycott of retailers, restaurants, chefs and consumers,” Dr Tudela said.
WWF has been urging a suspension of the out-of-control fishery, an option endorsed by the recent World Conservation Congress and recommended by ICCAT’s own internal high-level review.

The world’s largest bluefin tuna trader, Mitsubishi, signalled earlier in November that it would “reassess” its “involvement in this business” should ICCAT continue to be unable to sustainably manage the fishery.

“WWF will also actively push for a listing under the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES) in the hope that stringent trade controls tied explicitly to the survival of the species will turn around the half-hearted attempt at fisheries management shown here by ICCAT and especially its European contingent.”

CITES next meets in Doha in January 2010 with submissions on listings required by August 2009.
“Today’s outcome is a recipe for economic as well as biological bankruptcy with the European Union squarely to blame,” said Dr Tudela.

“Bluefin consumption in the main consumer market of Japan is expected to drop from 18,000 tonnes due to the economic crisis, with around 30,000 tonnes of frozen bluefin already in Hong Kong and Japan and additional unknown amounts in other Asian countries and in freezer ships.

“Our industry sources also tell us that there are 7,000 tonnes of illegally fished tuna in fattening cages across the Mediterranean that nobody wants to buy.”

The moratorium option, which the scientific panel said would lead to the quickest recovery in bluefin stock and the best future prospects for fulfilling ICCAT’s charter of delivering a long-term sustainable fishery, was not even given consideration by the commission in Marrakech despite increasing support for this option from European fishermen.

Thousands join bluefin tuna boycott

2008-11-20

Marrakech, Morocco: Close to 16,000 citizens from 149 countries have signed up to join numerous restaurants, retailers and chefs in boycotting Mediterranean bluefin tuna – until stocks have recovered and the fishery is properly controlled and managed.

WWF has presented the petition, on behalf of 15,941 concerned individuals, to top fisheries decision-makers today in Marrakech, Morrocco where the 46 Contracting Parties of the International Commission for the Conservation of Atlantic Tunas (ICCAT) are meeting to decide the future of bluefin tuna in the Mediterranean.

“Thousands of consumers from across the world are voting with their wallets by not buying or eating endangered Mediterranean bluefin tuna,” said Dr Sergi Tudela, Head of Fisheries at WWF Mediterranean. “WWF hopes ICCAT acts on this strong plea from global citizens.”

As increasing numbers of responsible consumers say no to bluefin, the list of chefs, restaurants and retailers around the world that have stopped serving and selling bluefin is also growing. The trailblazers – Auchan in France, Carrefour in Italy, Coop in Italy and Switzerland, ICA in Norway, Moshi Moshi in the UK, and Memento in Spain – have now been joined by many others in taking bluefin off their menus and shelves.

These are Benoît Delbasserue French chef; Casino French supermarket; Coop Norwegian supermarket; Deutsche See German processor; Elior French restaurant chain; Gottfried Friedrichs German processor; M&J UK seafood supplier; Migros Swiss supermarket; Relais du Parc French restaurant; Sergi Arola, Dario Barrio, Karel Bell – Spanish chefs; and over 50 restaurants in Monaco.

“Bluefin tuna was one of the star items on our menu, but the critical situation of the stocks made me take it off the plates so that diners can keep enjoying it in years to come,” said Sergi Arola, Spanish celebrity chef. “I believe it’s my duty to take care of the sustainability of a dish as well as its taste.”

“ICCAT members are under pressure from numerous countries, international institutions, scientists and even their own review to close this fishery and allow it to recover,” said Dr Tudela. “Now they are also coming under pressure from more and more of their own citizens, their noted chefs, their leading restaurants and their leading marketers.

"It is time for ICCAT to take note of this growing market aversion to the tuna slaughter and to finally follow its so-far hollow boast to act in accordance with the science.”

Dr Tudela noted that should ICCAT fail to act this week in Marrakech, support would grow for moving from attempting to control fishers to using a trade ban to save the species from collapse.

Limits for the use of Clean Development Mechanism and Joint Implementation certificates within the EU Emissions trading Scheme in Germany 2008-2012

2008-11-17

The European Union Emissions Trading System (EU ETS) enables the use of emission reduction credits from projects within the scope of the Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) and Joint Implementation (JI) as proof of compliance with the emission reduction obligations.
However, the use of these reduction credits is limited for a number of reasons (difficulties in proving the additionality of these projects, delay in (technological) structural change within the EU, credibility problems with a view to the necessary advance efforts in conjunction with emission reductions in industrialized countries). This applies to both the commitment by the different governments to reduce emissions and to the limitation of the permissible emissions in the EU ETS. The applicable directive for the EU ETS hence sets forth a cap for the use of credits from reduction projects outside the EU. Different models to this effect are considered in the discussions on the revision of this directive.

A comparative analysis of the total (aggregate) reduction efforts for the 2008-2020 period with the permissible caps for the use of credits from CDM and JI projects in the EU ETS led to the following results:

• According to the proposals by the European Commission, German plant operators can, in the case of an EU emission target of 20% (compared to 1990) within the scope of the EU ETS, use credits under the CDM and JI which when aggregated represent a share of approx. 61% of the total (aggregate) reduction for 2008 to 2020. In the case of the EU's multilateral commitment to a total emission reduction of 30%, this share is reduced to approx. 58%.

• According to the proposals by the European Parliament, the 20% case de facto also means a CDM/JI cap of 61% whilst the EU's overall target of 30% means a cap of 43% to 58% of the total reduction efforts for German plant operators in the EU ETS.

• According to the negotiation model proposed by Germany, a permissible target achieval contribution of approx. 82% of the total (aggregate) reduction effort which can be made within the scope of JI and CDM credits results in the case of the overall target of 20% for German plants in the EU ETS. Within the scope of the multilateral reduction commitment of 30% for the EU as a whole, the corresponding value totals approx. 72%.

These partly very high caps for the use of CDM/JI credits are, above all, but not solely, the result of the very high budgets for credits from CDM and JI which were conceded to Germany for the second period of the EU ETS (2008-2012). This means that it is not directly possible to apply the results for Germany to other EU countries.

Especially the German negotiation proposal would mean that the by far largest part of the emission reduction (approx. three quarters to four fifths) would no longer have to be achieved by German plant operators within the EU.

Europe sits on damning bluefin tuna report

2008-11-14

Barcelona, Spain: A European fisheries report demonstrating continuing widespread infringements by bluefin tuna fleets despite increased fleet surveillance in the Mediterranean has been delayed until after the conclusion of next week's key international tuna commission meeting to decide on a new management regime for the fishery.

The existence of the report, revealed today by The Economist, undermines Europe's promise of support for strong action possibly including temporary closure of the fishery at the International Commission for the Conservation of Atlantic Tunas (ICCAT) meeting in Marrakech, Morocco.

It also undermines European claims that it is bringing rampant bluefin overfishing under control, with a summary hurriedly produced after repeated demands from the European Parliament noting that extensive consultations with fishers and improved surveillance and inspections had little effect on the low priority industry gave to ICCAT rules.

“After decades of ignoring the science, ICCAT and member states are now trying to outdo each other in rhetoric about how much the science must matter,” said Dr Sergi Tudela, Fisheries director for WWF Mediterranean.

“The information gathered by Europe’s Community Fisheries Control Agency provides unprecedented data on the Mediterranean bluefin tuna fishery that would have been extremely precious for ICCAT scientists to make appropriate management recommendations.

“Shockingly, this valuable information has been kept hidden from scientists, thus undermining the quality of fisheries management advice – and the European Community, representing all EU Members States at ICCAT, must be held responsible for this.”

Earlier this year, WWF welcomed Europe's promise of vastly improved inspection and surveillance of the bluefin fleet and fattening farms by the CFCA, based in Vigo, Spain.

The Economist claims that a comprehensive CFCA report - the product of a €20 million investment in seeking to reign in the bluefin fishery - went to the European Commission in August and that an abbreviated version only was provided to the European Parliament’s Fisheries Commission earlier this month.

The abbreviated version is alarming enough, noting that “the level of apparent infringements detected in the tugs and the purse seiner fleet is considerable”, “the (illegal) use of spotter planes for searching bluefin tuna concentrations is still wide spread” and “as regards the recording and reporting of bluefin tuna catches . . . the ICCAT rules have not been generally respected”.

European Fisheries Commissioner Joe Borg has said that the last management rules for this beleaguered fishery – agreed at a previous ICCAT meeting in Dubrovnik in 2006 – would work, as long as there was compliance with the rules.

“This latest evidence of widespread non-compliance, information that has been hidden from ICCAT scientists and decision-makers, should be case enough that the only solution now is to close the Mediterranean bluefin tuna fishery – pending a complete overhaul of the fiasco,” Dr Tudela said.

A million tonnes of North Sea fish discarded every year

2008-11-04

Frankfurt, Germany: A million tonnes of fish and other sea creatures caught in the North Sea are thrown overboard every year, according to a new report from WWF-Germany.

The study, “Sea Creatures Are Not Rubbish”, shows that one-third of North Sea catch is discarded and calls for a gradual ban on the practice of discarding in the European Union.

This practice occurs when boats decide to dispose of fish which they catch but cannot land or derive income from, or when they have caught more fish than they are allowed to land, or they discard the less valuable fish in order to make more space for more valuable fish.

For example, the report cites the situation with Dover sole, for which six kilos of sea creatures are caught incidentally and discarded for every kilo found in the fishmonger. Similarly, catching one kilo of Norwegian lobster or scampi results in five kilos of bycatch.

The European Union recently declared that 88 per cent of the fisheries stocks of the EU are overfished, compared with 25 per cent on average globally. Bycatch is a major contributor to overfishing, providing even more impetus to address this unsustainable and illogical practice

Every year several million sharks and up to 250,000 sea turtles are killed in fishing operations designed to catch other species. This hidden fishing impact is already known to have contributed to the catastrophic decline in species such as the Pacific Leatherback Turtle, believed to have less than 2,500 nesting females remaining.

"Bycatch is an incredible waste and one of the largest threats to many sea creatures,” said Karoline Schacht, Fisheries Policy Officer, WWF-Germany. "The drama happens far away at sea but this unseen wastefulness must come to an end.”

Of most concern are fish that are too small or for which the fishermen have no catch quota – meaning that there is little or no measurement of the number or volume of these fish caught and killed. This could indicate an even greater level of over-fishing than is currently recognized in official estimates.

In Scotland, some fish for which the quota may have been exceeded are still being caught as the boats target other fish in the same area. The economic impact of this is frightening: fish to the value of €60m was discarded in recent months - for example, cod which may have been caught over the official quotas. As the quotas exist to assist in recovering highly vulnerable cod populations, it is clear how bycatch and discarding constitutes a clear threat.

WWF is calling for a European-wide discard ban and a bycatch action package. In the future every fish caught should be landed and allocated to the catch quota.

At the same time fishermen should be obliged to use better catch technologies and in this way the bycatch in some fisheries could be reduced by up to 90 per cent.

A legislative initiative against discard practice, announced by the European Commission, was only recently torpedoed by the powerful fishery lobby of some member countries.

“That is an outright scandal,” said Schacht. “Behind closed doors is an attempt to prevent sustainable fisheries.”

Spain, Japan back bluefin tuna ban

2008-10-13

Barcelona, Spain: Key fishing state Spain and key tuna market Japan joined with a majority of other countries to back closing the Mediterranean Bluefin Tuna fishery until it can be brought under control and establishing protected areas in the main breeding grounds.

The surprise vote tonight, by government and NGO members of the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN) at the World Conservation Congress in Barcelona, also calls for catch quotas to be nearly halved in line with scientific advice and for permanent fishing bans for May and June covering the entire spawning season.

“We didn't know this would pass, let alone pass so overwhelmingly,” said Dr Sergi Tudela, Head of Fisheries in WWF’s Mediterranean office. “Common sense is now promising to bring an end to the real shame in the international system of fisheries management .

“The message that we need to close the fishery now or have few fish and no fishery into the future is now coming from scientists, from consumers, from communities and from countries.”

The motion adds considerably to the pressure on International Commission for the Conservation of Atlantic Tunas (ICCAT) which decides on the future of the fishery in November, within two months of its own internal expert review labelling the management of the Mediterranean bluefin tuna fishery “an international disgrace”.

It also follows a WWF report earlier this year that the tuna fishing capacity was at twice quota levels and a further report last week that Italy's largely unregulated fleet was in flagrant violation of the fishery rules.

Last month, ICCAT scientists also warned the Mediterranean Bluefin Tuna population was on the brink of collapse. A retailers' boycott of Mediterranean Bluefin Tuna, supported by WWF, is spreading throughout Europe.

The tuna motion, initially bitterly opposed by some countries that later voted for it, was put up by WWF, Ecologistas en Acción, GOB, SEO/Birdlife and the Government of the Baleric Islands, which is proposed as one of the bluefin tuna sanctuaries.

“ICCAT needs to heed the claim from the international community to save the Mediterannean Bluefin Tuna,” Dr Tudela said.

“This year's meeting will be the last real chance for ICCAT to show to the world it deserves the mandate given by society to manage this fisheries and avoid the collapse of the species.”

Danube getting cleaner

2008-10-02

The findings of the second Joint Danube Survey, which were announced by the International Commission for the Protection of the Danube River on September 11, confirm that the cooperation among Danube countries to reduce pollution is bringing positive results. Progress has been made in many areas since the Joint Danube Survey 1 of 2001.

Water quality is generally improving, but more work is needed. People can swim in parts of the Danube River Basin, but not everywhere. People can eat fish without health risk, but further investigation of mercury concentrations is needed in some areas.

The Danube still contains significant natural populations of plants and animals. The first ever systematic survey of the river’s “hydromorphology” (the physical characteristics of its shape, boundaries and content) identified large areas that remain in good natural condition. Positive efforts that have been made to restore damaged natural areas, such as floodplains near Vienna and in the Danube Delta, need to continue if a good ecological condition of the river is to be achieved everywhere.

At the same time, the survey confirms that a further reduction of nutrients and organic pollution is needed. The Danube continues to show signs of degradation downstream of major cities and in a number of important tributaries because of poor municipal waste treatment. Efforts to establish waste water treatment plants in the basin, particularly in cities such as Budapest, Belgrade and Bucharest, need to be accelerated. Some countries need to intensify the pollution control efforts by industry on major tributaries. Overall, the reduction of pollution from agriculture (both nutrients and pesticides) must continue. Some toxic hot-spots also require more active attention.

Areas for further research and investigation were also identified. This includes levels of mercury in some samples, particularly in fish, as well as the sources of pollutants in some tributaries. The large number of non-native fish and other organisms in the Danube also require further assessment.

“More intensive discussions with stakeholders - such as the navigation and agriculture sectors, hydropower and the detergent industry - about measures to reduce particular pressures are needed,” said ICPDR Executive Secretary Philip Weller. “The cooperative climate that exists among many stakeholders for addressing the problems needs to be maintained.”

"The results of the latest Danube Survey underlines the progress that has been made in cleaning up the Danube as well as the qualities of the river that still exist," said Michael Baltzer, head of the WWF Danube-Carpathian Programme. "In addition to addressing remaining problems, we need to ensure that current EU and national plans to develop the Danube for shipping don't undermine the very substantial progress that has been already achieved."

Contacts:
Paul Csagoly, ICPDR Secretariat
Andreas Beckmann, WWF Danube-Carpathian Programme