WWF - Protecting the Mediterranean Environment

Leaders Vote Earth in support of good deal in Copenhagen

2009-11-17

Atlantic bluefin trade ban now vital as tuna commission fails to take action again

2009-11-15

Porto de Galinhas, Brazil: The Atlantic tuna commission today came up with only inadequate or delayed actions to ensure the recovery of the eastern Atlantic bluefin tuna, global conservation organization WWF warned today. Saving the tuna will now depend largely on an international trade ban due to be discussed in March.

The International Commission for the Conservation of Atlantic Tunas today endorsed a proposal from its chair, the EU, Japan, Morocco and Tunisia to drop the 2010 eastern bluefin quota from 19,500 tonnes to 13,500 tonnes, still far too high to enable stock recovery.

A key study presented to ICCAT in Recife showed even a strictly enforced 8,000-tonne quota would have only a 50 per cent chance of achieving a recovery in eastern Atlantic bluefin tuna by 2023 and another ICCAT study showed only a total fishing halt yielded significant chances of the bluefin population to recover enough to no longer qualify for high-level trade restrictions by 2019.

It is now more than ever necessary for member countries of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES) to line up behind global trade restrictions on Atlantic bluefin tuna. CITES is to consider a Principality of Monaco proposal that bluefin be listed for the highest level of trade restrictions at a meeting in Doha next March.

“Today’s outcome is entirely unscientific – and entirely unacceptable,” said Dr Sergi Tudela, Head of Fisheries at WWF Mediterranean. “This reduction of allowable catch is not based on any particular scientific advice to recover the stock with high probability – it is just an arbitrary political measure and only for one year. Now more than ever WWF sees a global trade ban as the only hope for Atlantic bluefin.”

Dr Tudela said a new provision for a 2011 fishery closure if the fishery was detected as being at serious risk of collapse was difficult to reconcile with the scientific committee’s recent data that the stocks are already at less than 10-15 per cent than unfished levels. “The trends for bluefin tuna are very clear and we need to act on the forward view rather than the rear mirror view to avoid collapse,” Dr Tudela said.

WWF had lobbied the meeting for a fishing suspension and determined action against illegal fishing, estimated to considerably inflate the most recent (2008) catch estimates of 34,120 tonnes. During the Recife meeting almost all harvesting countries were formally identified by ICCAT for breaking its rules – like EU tuna fattening farms accepting fish without proper documentation.

The massive overcapacity of industrial fleets in the Mediterranean also continues to hamper conservation efforts, yet the problem remains insufficiently addressed by the tuna commission.

The season for industrial fishing for bluefin tuna with purse seine fleets was reduced from two months to one, but remains open during the peak of the spawning period of 15 May to 15 June when the tuna are most vulnerable. ICCAT also continued to ignore long-standing calls to establish sanctuaries in key bluefin tuna spawning grounds such as the Balearic Islands off Spain.

“Common sense says that a trade ban supported by a temporary fishing closure is currently what is needed for the recovery of Atlantic tuna,” Dr Tudela said. “To close the fishery is what ICCAT needed to do to save the tuna and to save its own reputation.”

Dr Tudela called on CITES member countries “not to be fooled by ICCAT’s promises to save Atlantic bluefin tuna in the coming years. We have seen too many empty promises in ICCAT’s forty years of not conserving tuna. The tuna commission has failed in the most crucial moment of its history – how can it be expected of anything better? Now is the time for action elsewhere”.

Adding more fuel to the compelling case of ICCAT’s overall failure, contracting parties endorsed a further two years of the use by Morocco of illegal driftnets to catch swordfish. The nets, known widely as ‘walls of death’, kill 4,000 dolphins and 25,000 sharks in Mediterranean waters every year.

Bans on driftnets are covered in a large array of international agreements dating back to 1992 and including the UN, ICCAT, the EU which is the main market for the Moroccan swordfish, and Morocco itself.

“This year all contracting parties talked of the need to restore ICCAT’s credibility, and to do so they endorse the slaughter of 50,000 more sharks and 8,000 dolphins, violating UN resolutions? It is beyond belief, and is one more proof of the total dysfunction of ICCAT as a serious fisheries management organization,” said Dr Tudela.

ICCAT was also unable to agree on substantial measures to protect vulnerable shark species.

For further information

Gemma Parkes, tel. +39 346 387 3237, email. gparkes@wwfmedpo.org

Notes to editor

ôInterviews, footage, photos available on request.

ôMore information at www.panda.org/tuna

About WWF

WWF is one of the world's largest and most respected independent conservation organizations, with almost 5 million supporters and a global network active in over 100 countries. WWF's mission is to stop the degradation of the earth's natural environment and to build a future in which humans live in harmony with nature, by conserving the world's biological diversity, ensuring that the use of renewable natural resources is sustainable, and promoting the reduction of pollution and wasteful consumption.

www.panda.org/media for latest news and media resources

Mediterranean bluefin catches continue to mock quotas and science

2009-11-12

Porto de Galinhas, Brazil: New bluefin tuna catch estimates show Mediterranean fishing fleets continuing to make a mockery of fishing quotas set by the beleaguered Atlantic tuna commission.

The new catch estimates – themselves likely to severely underestimate the effect of continuing rampant illegal fishing – are also around four times the level scientists estimate would give the collapsing tuna population only limited chances of recovery over a time span of more than a decade.

Scientists attached to the International Commission for the Conservation of Atlantic Tunas (ICCAT) estimated the 2008 bluefin catch at 34,120 tonnes, well over last year’s quota of 28,500 tonnes set under the discredited 2006 ICCAT “recovery plan”.

Last year, ICCAT set a 22,000-tonne catch quota for 2009 in a controversial response to its scientists’ recommendations for a quota as low as 8,500 tonnes.

The new estimates come as ICCAT considers radical amendments to management measures in the face of rising calls for an international trade ban on Atlantic bluefin tuna and a supporting suspension of the fishery.

“New estimates lodged with ICCAT’s science committee show that one quarter of the latest estimated bluefin tuna catch would give us just a toss of the coin chance of recovering the tuna population by 2023,” said Dr Sergi Tudela, WWF Mediterranean.

Dr Tudela said he believed the latest estimates themselves were well under the real catch.

“To accept these figures at face value we have to accept a huge reduction in the amount of illegal fishing over the previous year,” he said. “I just don’t see the evidence or the reasoning for this miraculous drop in illegal fishing, while there is abundant evidence that pirate fishing remains rampant.”

ICCAT’s scientific committee notes that the estimates take no account of illegal fishing by unregistered boats.

The French navy reported dubious catch data and a lack of observers in intercepted Turkish bluefin boats, investigations are underway into the reflagging of vessels in Algerian waters and a Spanish study revealed laundering of undersize tuna through tuna fattening farms for the Japanese fresh tuna trade.

Opening the ICCAT meeting, chair Dr Fabio Hazin of Brazil said ICCAT had to set up “an efficient mechanism for the monitoring and control of the fishing fleets” and capable of “applying penalties proportional to the infringements detected”.

“We have been very much able to impose sanctions on non-members in the past and time has also come for ICCAT to show it does not have double standards, and that it is equally determined to also impose sanctions on its members in the same way it does with non-members,” he said.

International Energy Agency fails to light the way to a safe climate future

2009-11-10

London: The keenly awaited 2009 World Energy Outlook contains some remarkable analysis but does not light the way to a safe carbon future, WWF said today.

Emissions cuts canvassed in the outlook, the flagship annual publication of the International Energy Agency (IEA), are too small and too slow to keep the world out of the danger zone of unacceptable risks of catastrophic climate change, said Dr Stephan Singer, WWFs Director of Global Energy Policy.

Scientists, the UN and many governments including the G8 group have accordingly endorsed an objective of keeping average global warming less than two degrees Celsius over pre-industrial times - an objective WWF maintains would require developed nations cutting their emissions 40 per cent below 1990 levels by 2020.

But IEAs low emissions scenario sees OECD fossil fuel CO2 emissions down just 4.5 percent from 1990 levels by 2020.

“The proposed CO2 emissions reductions by the IEA for the energy sector of the rich nations are dismal,” Dr Singer said. “The reductions seen as low carbon by the IEA are less even than the inadequate reductions so far on the table from developed nations for the UN climate change conference in Copenhagen next month.”
Also according to the IEA, global energy emissions would be one quarter more in 2030 than in the 1990 reference year.

"World-wide fossil fuel emissions in twenty years must be on a pathway to be reduced to more than 80% below 1990 levels by mid-century to curtail the climate crisis. The IEA's scenarios violate this trajectory," Dr Singer said.

For WWF, with about two thirds of global greenhouse gas emissions, the energy sector has to lead the way to a low carbon future.

And although its alternative lower emissions scenario is clearly inadequate, WWF is pleased that the IEA identifies energy conservation as the measure with the best potential to bring it about.

“The IEA also finds most of the emissions savings mechanisms it identifies will be cost effective through the saving of fuel costs and this is a useful rebuff to those urging slow action or no action on climate on the basis of costs,” Dr Singer said.

“It is a pity that the IEA couldn’t stay up to date with the science on the level of emissions the atmosphere can safely digest and use this to point the way to a fully renewable power sector by mid-century.”
“What they are suggesting is not only dangerous, but it is much below what is technically possible.”

For further information:

Dr. Stephan Singer, Global Energy Policy Director, tel: +32 2 743 88 17; mobile +32 (0) 496 55 07 09 ssinger@wwfepo.org

About WWF
WWF is one of the world's largest and most respected independent conservation organizations, with almost 5 million supporters and a global network active in over 100 countries. WWF's mission is to stop the degradation of the earth's natural environment and to build a future in which humans live in harmony with nature, by conserving the world's biological diversity, ensuring that the use of renewable natural resources is sustainable, and promoting the reduction of pollution and wasteful consumption.

www.panda.org/media for latest news and media resources

Pressure mounts on tuna commission to shut down Atlantic bluefin tuna fishery

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 no possible Plan B.”

Even 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.

“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 per cent of pre-fishing levels – and may even have dropped to under 10 per cent.

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.”

Red List update shows up global failure to slow biodiversity loss

2009-11-03

Gland, Switzerland: The latest update of the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species should cause alarm over the continuing unprecedented loss of species and the failure so far of mechanisms to arrest biodiversity loss, WWF said today.

The 2009 Red List update, issued today by the International Union for the Conservation of Nature, shows more than one-third (36 percent) of the 47,677 species assessed are threatened with extinction. The assessment featured a special focus on freshwater species, which are being hit hard by pollution, loss of wetlands and water diversions. The planet’s amphibians are the most threatened of all species with 1895 of 6285 species assessed in the Red List threatened with extinction.

The Red List ranks species according to their population status and threat levels. It shows the effects that habitat loss and degradation, over-exploitation, pollutants and climate change are having on the world’s species.

“As crucial climate talks in Copenhagen draw near and with the International Year of Biodiversity around the corner, this is a wake-up call for world leaders.” said Amanda Nickson, Director of the WWF International Species Programme. “We are a world away from protecting species from the threats they face and meeting the globally endorsed 2002 commitment of the Convention on Biological Diversity to deliver a significant reduction in the rate of biodiversity loss by 2010.”

“This failure and the mechanisms to overcome it will need to be the dominant agenda item on next year’s meeting of parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity.”

Through its global initiatives, WWF is pursuing major efforts to arrest biodiversity decline in some of the most spectacular and highly diverse places on the planet, and to recover populations of some of the most endangered species, such as tigers.

It is estimated that less than 3200 tigers exist in the wild in a wide arc of countries from far eastern Russia to India and Indonesia. Tigers - a top predator residing at the top of its food chain - occupy less than seven percent of their original range, which has contracted 40 percent from 10 years ago.

As tigers require a large home range, protection of the species and its habitat bring huge benefits to thousands of other species. An international summit scheduled for 2010 in Vladivostok in Russia is a critical opportunity to reverse the decline in tiger numbers and ensure their survival in the wild.

“Tigers are a symbol of what is happening to many species across the globe, and demonstrate the urgent need for the world to come up with the political will, policies, resources and incentives to maintain a living and diverse planet.” said Ms Nickson. “The IUCN is frank that its assessments are likely to understate the real extent of the loss of species.”

Significant international meetings next year to address biodiversity loss and the threats to planetary life support systems include a major Conferences of Parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) and the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES).

Ms Nickson noted that the CBD’s 2010 target had probably underestimated the growing impact of climate change, which is now being increasingly recognised as an additional threat leading species of animals and plants towards extinction.

The assessment of freshwater species continued to alarm, with more than one third of assessed freshwater fishes under threat of extinction and approaching half of all molluscs. In Lake Dianchi in China, the assessment found all seven freshwater snails and 12 of the 13 freshwater fish species new to the Red List were threatened by overharvesting, pollution and introduced fish species.

However, in a rare ray of hope in the new assessment, one freshwater fish, the Australian Grayling has been moved from being listed as Vulnerable to being listed as Near Threatened as a result of conservation efforts which included putting fish ladders on dams, improving streamside vegetation and policing anglers.

For further information: Sarah Bladen, Conservation Communications, t +41 22 3649019, m +41 79 4150220, e sbladen@wwfint.org

For more information please visit www.iucnredlist.org

Global figures for 2009 IUCN Red List of Threatened Species:
• Total species assessed = 47,677
• Total Extinct or Extinct in the Wild = 875 (2%) [Extinct = 809; Extinct in the Wild = 66].
• Total threatened = 17,291 (36%) [Critically Endangered = 3,325; Endangered = 4,891; Vulnerable = 9,075].
• Total Near Threatened = 3,650 (8%).
• Total Lower Risk/conservation dependent = 281 (<1%) [this is an old category that is gradually being phased out of the Red List]
• Total Data Deficient = 6,557 (14%)
• Total Least Concern = 19,023 (40%)

NB: Not all species on the IUCN Red List are threatened. There are now more species on the IUCN Red List. This means that the overall percentage of threatened species has gone down by two percent. This is not because the status of the world’s biodiversity is improving, but because we have assessed more species. In the past, Red List assessments often focused on species that were already thought to be threatened, but as the Red List grows to include more complete assessments across entire groups, we are beginning to have a better idea of the relative proportion of species which are threatened against those which are not threatened.

Atlantic bluefin tuna trade ban supported by fishery’s scientists

2009-10-28

Madrid, Spain - Atlantic bluefin tuna meets the criteria for a ban on international trade, according to global scientists of the International Commission for the Conservation of Atlantic Tunas (ICCAT). This official assessment of bluefin’s extreme stock decline has been welcomed by major environment groups WWF and Greenpeace.

The scientists met in Madrid, Spain (21-23 October) to assess current stock status of Atlantic bluefin tuna against the specific criteria necessary to list a species under Appendix I of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES).

ICCAT’s scientists estimate that the current spawning biomass is less than 15 per cent of what it once was before fishing began – meaning Atlantic bluefin tuna meets the criteria for a CITES Appendix I listing.

Further, the scientists’ analyses confirmed that a suspension of commercial fishing is the only measure with a substantial chance of ensuring that the stock no longer meets the criteria for CITES Appendix I by 2019.

“What’s needed to save the stocks is a suspension of fishing activity and a suspension of international commercial trade – this is the only possible package that can give this fish a chance to recover,” said Dr Sergi Tudela, Head of Fisheries at WWF Mediterranean. “We must stop mercilessly exploiting this fragile natural resource until stocks show clear signs of rebound and until sustainable management and control measures are firmly put in place.”

On 14 October the Principality of Monaco submitted a CITES Appendix I listing proposal to temporarily ban international commercial trade and allow the species to recover from years of ineffective fisheries management and control.

“The ICCAT scientists have made formal what we have been saying all along – that Atlantic bluefin tuna is balancing precariously on the edge of collapse, and only drastic measures can now ensure this endangered species gets a fighting chance of recovery,” added Sebastian Losada, Oceans Campaigner for Greenpeace International. “The extent of the failure by ICCAT members to act responsibly and preserve our marine environment can no longer be ignored. Atlantic bluefin tuna has been subject to decades of massive overfishing and overexploitation and time is running out to save this species”

“Independent of what ICCAT decides to do in November, the science is undeniable that Atlantic bluefin tuna meets the criteria for a suspension of trade through a CITES Appendix I listing – and if ICCAT stops the fishing too, so much the better for this species,” added Sergi Tudela of WWF.

WWF and Greenpeace urge ICCAT to impose a zero quota at the organization’s next annual meeting on 6-16 November in Recife, Brazil. Interest will focus on what ICCAT does with the advice of its own scientists; in the past, the advice of ICCAT’s scientists has been largely disregarded.

The verdict from ICCAT’s scientific committee will be submitted to the 48 Contracting Parties when they meet in Recife. The next Conference of the Parties of CITES, meanwhile, is in Doha, Qatar, in March 2010, when WWF and Greenpeace are calling on the 175 CITES member countries to vote in favour of an Atlantic bluefin tuna Appendix I listing.

Europe's choice: fall behind or forge ahead on climate

2009-10-28

Brussels, Belgium - Europe can choose a path to prosperity on a new economic footing or continue to fumble along the dead end track of propping up fading industries, WWF said today in advance of tomorrow’s key European Council meeting which is expected to largely shape the EU position heading into the UN climate summit in Copenhagen in December.

“The choices on climate change in front of Europe’s leaders on Thursday and Friday are not complicated,” said Jason Anderson, Head of EU Climate and Energy Policy, WWF European Policy Office.

“In a world where other countries are counting the economic costs of climate catastrophe and assessing the economic benefits of new clean energy sources, Europe can either fall behind or forge ahead on the basis of this week’s decisions.

“Europe can support and play a fair role in financing a legally binding climate deal in Copenhagen or it can be a spectator to others taking the opportunities.”

It has been estimated that the global market for environmental goods and services will more than double to around EUR 1.4 trillion by 2020. In the EU, jobs in the environmental sector have already overtaken sectors such as car manufacturing, but this growth is influenced by regulatory certainty globally, regionally and nationally.

“Europe’s dilemma is clearly illustrated by the wildly differing outcomes of the ministerials running up to the Heads of State gathering,” Anderson said. “Economics ministers couldn’t agree on the vital question of helping the developing world adapt to climate change and create its own low carbon economy.

“Environment ministers were the ones out laying the basis of a new economy and a future less fraught with costly climate chaos. It was the environment ministers who pointed out that the European way of handing out carbon pollution permits to big polluters is continuing to stifle the fledgling carbon markets. And it is the environment ministers who are starting to edge towards the binding emissions reductions targets that are going to be necessary.

“WWF – and the world – would prefer that Europe’s leaders go with the clarity of the environmental advice rather than the confusion of the economic advice,” Anderson said.

“Otherwise the bloc that once considered itself the leader on climate and the environment will just slip further and further behind. If they mirror their economics ministers in not being able to make a decision, Europe will end up not even following in any satisfactory way.”

For further information:

Jason Anderson, Head of Climate and Energy Policy, WWF European Policy Office, Tel. +32 (0)2 740 09 35, Mob. +32 (0)474 837 603, email: janderson@wwfepo.org

Stephanie Rhomberg, Communications and Press Officer Climate & Energy, WWF European Policy Office, Tel. +32 (0)2 740 88 06, Mob. +32 (0)495 273 319, email: srhomberg@wwfepo.org

About WWF

WWF is one of the world's largest and most respected independent conservation organizations, with almost 5 million supporters and a global network active in over 100 countries. WWF's mission is to stop the degradation of the earth's natural environment and to build a future in which humans live in harmony with nature, by conserving the world's biological diversity, ensuring that the use of renewable natural resources is sustainable, and promoting the reduction of pollution and wasteful consumption.

www.panda.org/media for latest news and media resources

Most European palm oil buyers fail sustainability test

2009-10-27

Gland, Switzerland – The majority of European palm oil buyers are failing to buy certified sustainable palm oil, despite its availability and the previous commitments by many companies to purchase it, according to a first assessment by WWF.

WWF’s Palm Oil Buyers’ Scorecard, released today, scored the performance of 59 of the most prominent retailers and manufacturers in Europe that buy and use palm oil in their products. The Scorecard comes as the world’s largest producers, buyers, and traders of palm oil gather for the 7th Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil, held Nov. 2-4 in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.

The Scorecard reveals that 10 of those 59 companies have scored 20 or more points, and thus are considered by WWF to be showing real progress on their commitments to buy and use sustainable palm oil. They have joined the Roundtable, properly monitored their palm oil purchases, and have put in place and started to take action on commitments to buy certified sustainable palm oil.

WWF has been asking buyers of palm oil to commit to the RSPO since 2003, and while some of these companies show encouraging signs of stepping up their commitments and actions on sustainable palm oil, the majority of companies are not. 19 of the 59 companies scored between 0 and 3 out of 29 possible points, meaning that they have taken very little or no action to curb their use of non-certified palm oil and are failing to respond to the efforts that palm oil producers have made to achieve certification under the Roundtable

Meanwhile, a range of 28 companies scored between 5 – 20 points. While a few are showing progress many of these have only just begun to take action on responsible palm oil. While some have put policies and systems in place, often they have yet to start buying certified sustainable palm oil.

“WWF welcomes the action of those companies that have moved toward buying certified palm oil,” said Rod Taylor, Director of the Forests Programme at WWF International. “Although many companies have a long way to go, the performances of the top companies in the Scorecard signal to the rest of the industry that it is possible to turn commitment into action and transform the market.”
Further actions by these companies will be captured in the next version of the Scorecard, scheduled for 2011.

“However, WWF also acknowledges that even the top scoring companies in the Scorecard need to continue to raise their game if they are to use certified palm oil for 100% of their palm oil supply, which is the stated objective of many of these companies.”

“Because certified palm oil is now available, it is time to hold major palm oil users to account for their policies and actions,” Taylor said.

The growing demand for palm oil is adding to the already severe pressure on remaining rainforest areas of the world. The loss of forest in Indonesia is threatening the survival of species such as the orang-utan, the Sumatran tiger, rhino and elephant. Forest loss and the draining of peatlands for palm oil plantations is also contributing to climate change and displacing local people who rely on the forest for food and shelter. Palm oil is one of the world’s fastest expanding crops in Southeast Asia as well as West Africa and South America.

It is because of threats like this that WWF worked with other NGOs and the palm oil industry to set up the Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO) in 2003. Since then WWF has worked with the industry to ensure that the RSPO standards contain robust social and environmental criteria, including a prohibition on the conversion of valuable forests. Certified Sustainable Palm Oil has been available since November 2008 and provides assurance that valuable tropical forests have not been cleared and that environmental and social safeguards have been met during the production of the palm oil.

WWF opted to grade palm oil buyers after releasing figures in May showing that only a small percentage of the sustainable palm oil available on the market had been bought. Since then, the situation is starting to improve. Over the last year, RSPO certified plantations have produced over 1,000,000 tonnes of certified sustainable palm oil (CSPO), and over 195,000 tonnes have been sold to date. While this still represents only 19 percent of the available supply on average, the RSPO has reported that CSPO sales have been growing in recent months.

The scoring of companies was a two-step process that took six months to complete. In the first step, WWF evaluated the performance of companies based on publicly available data, such as corporate sustainability reports. WWF then sent a preliminary score to each company with a package of information to brief companies about the Scorecard, including details on the project’s objectives and the methodology. The companies were given the opportunity to submit additional information to WWF that might improve their scores.

The Scorecard will be published every two years and eventually will expand to include palm oil buyers in other markets around the world.

Genetic tuna tracking opens new options in race to save fish and fisheries

2009-10-27

Madrid, Spain – A new method that uses gene sequencing to accurately distinguish between tuna species has the potential to support fisheries management and possible trade restrictions for endangered tuna species.

The new method, revealed in a paper published today in PLoS ONE, the online open-access scientific journal, can make an identification from any kind of processed tuna tissue.

The true tunas – from the genus Thunnus – are among the most economically valuable fish in the world and are also among the most endangered of all commercially exploited fish . They are not to be confused with the tuna most commonly tinned, which comes from related families such as mackerel.

The paper, ‘A Validated Methodology for Genetic Identification of Tuna Species (Genus Thunnus)’, co-authored by Dr Jordi Viñas, a fish genetics specialist at Girona University in Spain and Dr Sergi Tudela, Head of Fisheries of WWF Mediterranean, proposes for the first time ever a genetic method for the precise identification of all eight recognized species of tuna.

Northern, southern and Pacific bluefin tuna are among the most stressed fish populations in the world, with the Principality of Monaco having lodged an application before the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES) for a trade ban on the Atlantic (Northern) bluefin tuna where several fisheries have collapsed and failed to recover and the Mediterranean bluefin fishery is exhibiting advanced signals of impending collapse in the face of overfishing and decades of poor management.

The other tuna species are yellowfin, blackfin, longtail, bigeye and albacore tuna. Identification of traded forms of the fish, which can be dressed, gilled and gutted, or loin and belly meat, and either fresh or frozen – is a highly complex process, which has hampered conservation efforts and was a potential limitation to the imposition of trade controls.

The analysis of the DNA sequence variability of two unlinked genetic markers, one a hypervariable segment of the mitochondrial genome and the other a nuclear gene, enables full discrimination between all the tuna species.

"..findings are particularly relevant"

“This methodology will allow the identification of tuna species of any kind of tissue or type or presentation – including sushi and sashimi,” said Dr Jordi Viñas of Girona University. “The differentiation between different tunas, even those with highly similar genes, is now possible.”

“Our findings are particularly relevant for the highly overfished, overtraded – and hence endangered Atlantic bluefin tuna, for which there is a growing campaign to impose a temporary ban on international commercial trade,” added co-author Dr Sergi Tudela of WWF. “There will now be no trace of doubt when seeking to identify chilled or frozen tuna flesh at port or point of sale.”

The paper will remain available to download for free from the website of PLoS ONE and will be submitted to the relevant tuna fishing and trade management and control authorities.

(PLoS ONE is the first journal of primary research from all areas of science to employ a combination of peer review and post-publication rating and commenting, to maximize the impact of every report it publishes. PLoS ONE is published by the Public Library of Science (PLoS), the open-access publisher whose goal is to make the world’s scientific and medical literature a public resource.)

Fishing for funds to be placed off limits for rule breakers

2009-10-21

Brussels, Belgium: European governments and enterprises continuing to flout fisheries regulations are to be denied access to EU public funds, according to measures agreed by the EU Fisheries Council this week.

WWF has welcomed the Control and Enforcement Regulation creates a common system of rules and sanctions to be applied at national level in Europe.

“Existing rules have been applied poorly or not at all, disadvantaging fishermen and governments who played by the rules. Illegal fishing continues to be a huge threat to healthy fish stocks and profitable fisheries," said Aaron Mc Loughlin, Head of the European Marine Programme at WWF's European Policy Office.

When some fishing nations raised last minute objections to the Article 95 sanctions on public funding for rule breaking nations and fishers, WWF wrote to the EU noting that "the fishery sector is the only sector covered by Community law in which funds are still distributed to Member States with perfect impunity, without being conditioned upon compliance with control rules."

It was "common sense" that there be provisions "setting down countermeasures in suspending and reducing financial aid in cases in which Member States continue to show no intention of stopping persistent and serious infringements," the letter said.

The nations, led by France, had sought to have serious infringements dealt with by application to the European Court of Justice. However, WWF noted that "It took over 24 years for the Court of Justice to order France to pay penalties because of failing to carry out controls of fishing activities in accordance with the requirements laid down by the Community provisions".

WWF strongly believes that measures to tackle illegal fishing inside and outside EU waters are to be implemented as soon as possible starting from the 1st of January 2010.

No public money for fishermen breaking the rules

2009-10-20

Brussels, Belgium - Today, 20 October 2009, the EU Fisheries Council reached political agreement on new rules to stop illegal fishing in Europe’s waters. WWF firmly supports the Control Regulation which creates a common system of rules and sanctions to be applied at national level in Europe.

The new measures will ban EU public funds going to governments and fishermen who continue to break the law.

“Existing rules have been applied poorly or not at all, disadvantaging fishermen and governments who played by the rules. Illegal fishing continues to be a huge threat to healthy fish stocks and profitable fisheries. This reform is the first step towards an effective change in how EU fisheries are managed” says Aaron Mc Loughlin, Head of European Marine Programme at WWF European Policy Office.

WWF strongly believes that measures to tackle illegal fishing inside and outside EU waters are to be implemented as soon as possible starting from the 1st of January 2010.

For further information:
Aaron Mc Loughlin, Head of European Marine Programme, WWF European Policy Office
Tel: +32 2 740 09 24
Mobile: +32 472 94 83 17
E-mail: AMcLoughlin@wwfepo.org

Stefania Campogianni, Press Officer, WWF European Policy Office
Tel: +32 2 743 88 15
Mobile: +32 499 53 97 36
E-mail: scampogianni@wwfepo.org

Endangered Atlantic bluefin tuna formally recommended for international trade ban

2009-10-14

Rome, Italy – WWF welcomed today the proposal to ban international trade in endangered Atlantic bluefin tuna submitted by the Principality of Monaco, which recommends a listing of the species on Appendix I of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES).

That Atlantic bluefin tuna stocks are declining dramatically was confirmed last week by scientists for the International Commission for the Conservation of Atlantic Tunas (ICCAT) – the organization responsible for ensuring the sustainable commercial exploitation of this fish – at their annual meeting in Madrid, Spain.

“WWF applauds Monaco for officially proposing today a halt to international trade in this endangered and alarmingly overexploited species – an act that would cut the main driver of decline,” said Dr Sergi Tudela, Head of Fisheries at WWF Mediterranean.

“WWF now appeals to all CITES Contracting Parties to vote for the trade ban proposal. The current management regime is a total failure and is inadequate to guarantee the recovery of this iconic species – only a stop to global trade can give bluefin tuna the breather it so desperately needs.”

A CITES Appendix I listing would ban international commercial trade in wild Atlantic bluefin tuna.

In their report of Friday, the ICCAT scientists highlighted that the fishery had been plagued with serious underreporting and illegal fishing from the 1990s – undermining the conservation of the stock – and that further stock collapse is likely unless fishing mortality rates are substantially reduced in the near future.

Parallel to the CITES trade ban, WWF is calling on ICCAT to suspend fishing of Atlantic bluefin tuna when it meets 6-16 November in Recife, Brazil – with the ultimate goal of a sustainable fishery successfully managed by ICCAT in future.

The 175 CITES Contracting Parties will vote on the listing proposal when they next meet in Doha, Qatar, 13-25 March 2010, where a two-thirds majority will confirm the global trade ban.

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

Bangkok talks: less paper, more problems

2009-10-09

Bangkok - Delegates who just ended a long and difficult session of climate negotiations in Bangkok made some technical progress but lack of a political mandate and backing from their capitals prevented the kind of breakthrough needed to significantly advance an agreement.

According to WWF, negotiators worked hard to get through hundreds of pages of draft text, and they managed to cut it roughly in half. However, they could not move forward on most significant issues such as finance commitments and institutions, emission reduction targets and the legal nature of the actual outcome of the process.

“After this session the text is shorter, but not much sweeter”, said Kim Carstensen, the leader of WWFs Global Climate Initiative.

“We know more clearly where the political stumbling blocks are, and we know that leaders rather than negotiators need to fix them. We therefore call on Heads of State to meet again before the climate talks culminate in Copenhagen in December,” said Carstensen.

“With only five negotiation days left ahead of Copenhagen, we can’t afford to waste time on missing mandates. It is absolutely necessary that negotiators bring new and clear political instructions with them when they meet next month in Barcelona”

The crisis in Bangkok around the future of the Kyoto Protocol and perceived attempts by some developed nations to “kill” it require responsible political action from all sides.

“Suggestions that we can do without the Kyoto Protocol and replace it with an entirely new instrument are unproductive at this point. It will take too long, we have no way of knowing what we will get, and it is very likely that the process will just lead to a prolonged race to the bottom”, said Carstensen.

The Bangkok session has shown that while the lack of a bill from the United States Senate still remains a major obstacle to progress in the talks, we now see worrying signs of blocking from the European Union which has been unable to show leadership and clear ambition.

“The lack of a bill in the U.S. senate is certainly an elephant in the room. But, we no longer have just one elephant, we have several. Now we need to equip this herd with wings to make them fly”, said Carstensen.

“Without clear positions on finance and institutions, the EU can no longer be called the leader of the climate negotiations and its leading position is dropping from day to day. The European Council in late October presents the next obvious opportunity to rectify this.”

Dialogue aims to reduce impacts from dam building in Dinaric Arc

2009-10-06

Dubrovnik, Croatia – Careful design and operation of water and hydropower infrastructure can provide for development and economic needs with minimal impact on the people and natural assets of the Dinaric Arc, WWF is to tell a major conference in Croatia today.

The conference in Dubrovnik, organised by WWF with the support of the World Bank, the Global Water Partnership and the International Hydropower Association, will look at hydropower possibilities and proposals for the eastern Adriatic hinterland area which includes parts of Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Italy, FYR Macedonia, Montenegro, Serbia and Slovenia.

Key players from the water, energy and environmental sectors in the region as well as global experts and representatives from major international financing institutions will discuss new approaches to hydropower, based on state-of-the-art science and best practices implemented throughout the world.

“Hydropower emits no CO2 and this makes it a highly attractive alternative energy source in a context of ever increasing climate change and scarcity of conventional energy sources in the region – but it often results in negative impacts on other key water uses like agriculture and fisheries, as well as on fragile freshwater ecosystems and the people that depend on them,” said Paolo Lombardi, Director of the WWF Mediterranean Programme.

“It is crucial that all voices be heard to find the best possible solutions for a sustainable use of precious freshwater resources – that is why WWF is bringing stakeholders together today.”

WWF will propose a range of measures to enhance the sustainability of hydropower development. These go from careful strategic planning that spares precious natural areas to adopting environmental standards, and from ensuring minimum flows which limit impacts on nature and biodiversity to the adequate design and operation of water infrastructure. The conference aims at helping decision-makers in the Dinaric Arc countries to make informed choices and triggering similar approaches in the region in order to improve the environmental performance of water infrastructure.

Hydropower accounts for more than 40 per cent of electricity consumption in the Dinaric Arc region. In many countries it still represents the majority of power supply and is the near-exclusive source of electricity in countries such as Albania and Montenegro which rely on it for up to 90 per cent of their energy output.

In Montenegro, Lake Skadar – a key area for biodiversity in the Balkans – is threatened by four dams planned on the Morača River. According to a study by WWF, its partner Green Home and independent experts, the dams could strongly affect the water levels in the lake hence putting a strain on its rich fish population and negatively impacting hundreds of local families who make a living from fisheries.

Meanwhile, hydropower infrastructure has disturbed the natural water flow into Croatia’s Neretva delta, contributing to saltwater intrusion which is damaging agriculture in the delta. In Bosnia and Herzegovina, biodiversity hotspot Hutovo Blato is also threatened by an unnatural distribution of water - which in turn could negatively impact agricultural and tourism activities, key sources of income for the area.

“Dinaric Arc countries are on the road to EU accession, hence implementing a more sustainable management of water resources, notably based on the EU Water Framework Directive, represents a major opportunity for them to align with EU requirements,” said Angela Klauschen, Freshwater Policy Officer at WWF Mediterranean.

WWF calls for an open dialogue between all stakeholders in the region to share best practices and benefit from pioneering approaches that can make hydropower more sustainable – including new initiatives such as the Hydropower Sustainability Assessment Forum (HSAF), a global collaboration of representatives from different sectors aiming to develop a broadly endorsed sustainability assessment tool to measure and guide performance in the hydropower sector.

New world leaders' summit needed to unlock climate talks

2009-10-05

BANGKOK – Delegates negotiating the new climate treaty in Bangkok made some progress during the first week of their summit but in order to make a significant step towards an ambitious treaty world leaders need to give new guidance.

“Despite progress on the text there is no movement on the political stumbling blocks that need resolving before we go to Copenhagen”, said Kim Carstensen, Leader of WWF’s Global Climate Initiative.

While negotiators who gathered for a two-week session in Bangkok have shown good will in reaching an agreement which could help prevent devastating impacts of global warming, they need a stronger political backing from their leaders at home.

WWF calls on heads of states to get together before the final climate change summit in Copenhagen in order to unlock the slow negotiation process and give it a clear political mandate.

“We have seen negotiations in good faith here in Bangkok and steps forward on technical issues. But in order to boost this slow process ahead of Copenhagen we need strong political backing and firm declarations from leaders,” said Kim Carstensen.

“We are calling on world leaders to gather for a summit to unlock the negotiations and give them a strong political impetus ahead of Copenhagen.”

WWF would like delegates in Bangkok to continue their good work in the second week of the UNFCCC meeting but with only 10 negotiation days left before Copenhagen, there is urgent need for another high-level summit.

Leaders should make it clear that the outcome of Copenhagen must have a legally binding character and include negotiated emissions reduction targets for the rich countries.

“Leaders must instruct negotiators that a robust outcome of Copenhagen means clear and agreed reduction targets and financial commitments. A set of voluntary pledges will not do the trick,” Carstensen said.

An influential summit of world’s leaders should focus on financial aspects of the treaty as well as bring forward declarations on emissions reductions from developed countries.

Spain takes international water treaty past half way mark

2009-10-01

New York: Spain late last month boosted efforts to bring into effect an international treaty to share and protect rivers and lakes crossing or forming international borders, telling the United Nations General Assembly it was committed to jointly addressing issues of security, development and protection of the environment.

The International Convention on the Non-Navigational Use of International Watercourses (UN Watercourses Convention), drew the support of an overwhelming majority of nations when passed by the UN in 1997 as the framework for resolving water disputes and promoting cooperation on water management between States.

But, even as the world grew more anxious about dwindling water supplies and the growing impacts of climate change, the treaty languished for more than a decade well short of the 35 ratifications needed for it to come into effect. Spain becomes the 18th nation to ratify the convention.

“Spain taking the ratifications for the UN Watercourses Convention more than half way is tremendous news for a world worried about water,” said WWF Director General James Leape.

“This convention is not a dry legal instrument but the basis for us to share limited water resources and protect the vital human and natural assets of rivers, lakes and underground water.”

For the past two years, WWF has taken a leading role in a campaign to have the UN Watercourse Convention ratified, arguing it is a vital step in adaptation to climate change. Changes in rainfall patterns and freshwater availability will be for many people the most severe and immediate impacts of climate climate change.

Half the world’s land surface is drained by international waterways containing more than two thirds of global freshwater flows. Three quarters of the world’s countries face potential disputes with neighbours over shared rivers, lakes, wetlands or aquifers.

Spain, one of Europe’s largest water users, is no stranger to international water agreements, concluding the Albufeira Convention on river management with Portugal in 1998. It is also a party to the European Water Framework Directive but, like other Mediterranean nations such as Italy and Greece is experiencing difficulties in implementing the directive.

WWF-Spain welcomed the ratification, urging Prime Minister José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero, to implement key measures with Portugal, including implementing River Basin Management Plans on shared rivers.

“A sufficient supply of water in Portugal is essential for the good ecological status of the degraded estuaries of the Guadiana and Tagus rivers which are affected by overexploitation of its water resources,” said Enrique Segovia, WWF-Spain Director of Conservation.

“The Tagus River, for instance, suffers several water transfers towards the Upper Guadiana and Eastern Spain and is facing the threat of a new water transfer of the Tagus river before the Portuguese border.”

WWF-Spain is hoping that the Spanish Government will use its 2010 EU Presidency to promote ratification of the UN Water Courses Convention in addition to seeing it as an impetus to improve its performance in water management at home.

“In the past year, Tunisia and Spain have ratified the UN Watercourses Convention and we have received indications from other nations that they are working towards ratification,” said Flavia Loures, who heads WWF’s global initiative to have the convention and other related agreements brought into effect.

“We are really getting the sense there is some momentum building.”

Europe remains weak on tuna conservation, rest of world must respond

2009-09-22

Brussels, Belgium - - WWF has expressed disappointment that despite the good progress represented by 21 out of 27 European Union Member States confirming today their support for an international trade ban for endangered Atlantic and Mediterranean bluefin tuna, this majority is not enough for EU countries to sponsor a proposal to this effect. The global conservation organization calls for the support of other countries.

At a meeting yesterday of the EU’s Management Committee for the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES), EU Member State representatives forged a position on the recent European Commission opinion that Atlantic bluefin tuna meets the requirements to be listed on CITES Appendix I to restrict international trade – and the recommendation that the EU should formally back such a listing proposal. Yesterday 21 EU countries came out in favour of the proposal but formal EU backing was blocked by just six Mediterranean states against – discarding the advice of European Commission environment and fisheries experts.

“It is once again large-scale Mediterranean fishing interests trying to gang up against the long-term survival of Atlantic bluefin tuna and the industry this incredible species has sustained for thousands of years,” said Aaron McLoughlin, Head of WWF’s European Marine Programme.

“Such a short-sighted and unambitious stance from the Mediterranean EU Member States against marine conservation is disappointing.”

The Principality of Monaco announced in July its intention to submit a proposal to list Atlantic bluefin tuna on CITES Appendix I but any other country can choose to co-sponsor the listing proposal with Monaco.

255 out 345 votes in Council are needed to secure support for the Commission’s proposal. Reaching this qualified majority, or 74% of the total vote in favour, is a high threshold to secure the EU’s block vote at CITES. EU Environment Ministers will need to reconsider the proposal in October or December at an Environment Council.

EU countries, while each being a separate Contracting Party to CITES, vote en bloc at CITES meetings.

“WWF is calling on other CITES Contracting Parties to stand up for what the European Commission has accepted as necessary – that global trade in endangered Atlantic bluefin must be urgently halted until it is clearly on the road to recovery,” continued McLoughlin.

“After all, how can anyone enjoy contributing to extinction by buying, selling, cooking or eating a fish whose days are clearly numbered? Enough is enough.”

The next CITES Conference of the Parties takes place in Doha, Qatar, in March 2010, when the 175 member countries will vote on trade ban listing proposals. Any such proposals must be received by the CITES secretariat before 14 October in order to be put up for consideration in Doha.

Notes to editor
• Cyprus, France, Greece, Italy, Malta and Spain do not support the CITES Appendix I listing of Atlantic bluefin.

• Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Germany, Hungary, Ireland, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Sweden and the UK are all in favour of the Atlantic bluefin tuna trade ban proposal.

For more information
Aaron McLoughlin, WWF European Policy Programme
Mobile: +32 472 948 317
E-mail: amcloughlin@wwfepo.org

Gemma Parkes, WWF Mediterranean
Tel: +39 346 387 3237
E-mail: gparkes@wwfmedpo.org

Leaders must grasp opportunity to shape crucial climate deal

2009-09-21

New York, USA - World leaders meeting in New York for the UN Climate Summit on Tuesday 22 September have a historic opportunity to shape a ground breaking climate agreement that can help save the world from the ravages of runaway climate change, WWF said today.

WWF is urging wealthy and industrialised nations that have contributed the bulk of historical carbon emissions to lead the way in reducing them, while helping poorer countries to deal with the impacts.

“Negotiations for the UN climate agreement have proceeded at a snail’s pace this year, stalled by a lack of clear political leadership,” said WWF International Director General Jim Leape. “Climate change is the foremost threat to our environment, our economy and our security. We will succeed in meeting this challenge only if the heads of state now gathering in New York commit themselves to bold action to reduce emissions, and to support those suffering already from climate change impacts.”

“Some world leaders are still hesitating to embrace the low carbon economy. Moving to clean energy technologies is not just what the climate needs – it is the key to prosperity in this century.”

“Scores of business leaders have come out in support of a strong climate deal, as have, most recently, investors representing a quarter of the world’s annual GDP. It is time for our political leaders to step up.”
Climate change is already hitting many of the poorest nations, and one crucial commitment needed from leaders of wealthy nations is to provide immediate finance and technical support to help these countries adapt.

“The countries that have contributed the least to climate change are now bearing the brunt of its impacts,” Leape said. “Industrialized countries must find a way to mobilize immediate funding to help those countries adapt.”

This week, WWF is looking to world leaders to declare that they are determined to forge a binding climate deal at the UN climate conference in Copenhagen in December – a deal which will ensure that global carbon emissions begin to decline within the next decade.

WWF is urging emissions reductions in developed countries at the upper levels of the 25-40 percent cuts by 2020 recommended by scientists for developed nations in order to keep the world well out of the red zone.

“Leaders of wealthy nations have promised to limit warming to below 2°C but have not yet committed to anything like the required level of emissions reductions,” said Leape. “The UN Summit is the place to recognize that what’s on the table now is not enough and that developed countries need to come back with more before Copenhagen.”

“At the same time, leaders of major developing countries must make their commitment to climate action more visible to the world. Countries like China, India, Mexico and South Africa are already working very actively to combat climate change, but we still need to see them come forward and put these actions into a global climate framework.”

For further information:

• Martin Hiller (English, German, French) mhiller@wwfint.org, Mo: +41 793472256
• Steve Ertel (English), steve.ertel@wwfus.org, Mo: +1 202 460 4641

THE UNFCCC CLIMATE TREATY:
At the UN conference in Copenhagen in December 2009, countries have to agree to a climate treaty which has the power to save the planet from devastating climate change. This means the treaty must be fair, ambitious, and binding.

WWF asks countries to:
• Agree to a strong, legally binding climate regime for the period after 2012, by amending the Kyoto Protocol and agreeing to a new Copenhagen Protocol;
• Ensure that global carbon emissions peak by 2017 at the latest and decline quickly thereafter, with an aim to cut global emissions by at least 80 percent below 1990 levels by 2050;
• Agree to decarbonise developed country economies by 2050 and to reduce their emissions by 40% below 1990 levels in 2020 as a first step;
• Facilitate the transition to low-carbon economies in developing countries by providing 160bn USD annually as financing for mitigation and adaptation and by providing access to clean technologies;
• Support immediate action for climate change adaptation in developing countries;
• Support a zero net deforestation target by 2020.

About WWF
WWF is one of the world's largest and most respected independent conservation organizations, with almost 5 million supporters and a global network active in over 100 countries. WWF's mission is to stop the degradation of the earth's natural environment and to build a future in which humans live in harmony with nature, by conserving the world's biological diversity, ensuring that the use of renewable natural resources is sustainable, and promoting the reduction of pollution and wasteful consumption.

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