IWC 66 Questions answered

Protest banners outside IWC66

Before the opening of IWC 66 I asked some questions about what was going to happen.

Here they are again – this time with the answers:

·  Will the commission accept the importance of whale poo to its deliberations and move to celebrate faecal plumes as the best thing ever:

• Yes...pretty much... by a revised and majority resolution the Commission has acknowledged the links between whales and ocean productivity and the roles that whale stocks play in climate change (stay tuned for more about this).

· What will we decide about special permit/scientific whaling;

• We heard that many did not like it and many others thought it was just fine but, by majority resolution, a new review structure was put in place (congratulations to Australia and New Zealand).

· Will the wifi hold up in the meeting halls to facilitate a paper-less meeting or will delegates be unable to update their Facebook status;

• The wifi was totally excellent – the sessions went too fast at times to find the damned papers but that was not the fault of the wifi – and Facebook pages were updated, along with blogs (thank you Secretariat).

· Will the Whatsapp app cause further devaluation  of the pound

• Whilst the Whatsapp app is much loved by some teams at the IWC to keep in touch, it is not responsible for the falling British pound (which was mentioned several times during the IWC meetings, as the IWC bank account is in the UK) – the reason for the falling pound is something known as Brexit;

· Will the lifts [in the meeting hotel] prove capable to the job and how many times will delegates with widely differing views be squashed together in a confined space and will this help build consensus;

• It is possible that the lifts might explain the disappearance of some delegations during the meeting. For example at one point one was out of action and maybe that is where the disappeared Croatian Commissioner still is. I am not aware of any consensus building achieved in the lifts but I am confident that the many small Slovenia cakes were helpful in this regard;

· Will there be anywhere sensible to find a quick lunch (actually as we have been here before, I am fairly certain – unless the IWC secretariat has set up a new catering venture – that the answer is no);

• Actually folks seemed to do OK – they even left a few small cake and some fruit on tables over lunch for the needy – which was kind;

· How will the proposal for a South Atlantic Sanctuary fare this time;

• Not well.

· Will anyone mention the ongoing whaling by Norway and Iceland;

• Yes – this was mentioned several times not only by the countries concerned with pride but in interventions by other countries and NGOs.

· Will the imperiled nature of the vaquita and the mauis dolphin get air time;

• Yes. mauis were mentioned and New Zealand gave a reply. More spectacular was the resolution which came in late and was still accepted, and then passed concerning the vaquita (well done Clare/EIA and all concerned).

· Will any nation walk out (we have not had a good walk-out for a few years and they always helped to provide some drama to the proceedings);

• There was a vague threat of something similar hanging in the breeze but no physical movement as such.

· Will any NGOs walk out and would anyone care if they did, or even miss them

• No one walked out but there was something close to a fight over the microphone between two NGO speakers. (This was just before one of them shouted at us all.) And I think that especially now that NGOs can speak to issues during the actual debate and made comments that were helpful and to the point in almost all cases – we would be missed;

· Will remaining NGOs successfully make relevant interventions on specific topics as they come up on the agenda;

• See above.

· Does anyone care about the hundreds of thousands of cetaceans being cruelly killed in fishing nets;

• Yes they do – a new work-steam was agreed on this and a coordinator appointed. (I will come back to this too}

· Does anyone care about all the stranded cetaceans;

• Yes they do – a new work-stream agreed and a coordinator is being sought.

· Does anyone care what the IWC Scientific Committee did over the last couple of years;

• Yes several of us do!

·  Has the UK Commissioner brought his meerkat;

• Yes, Nigel Gooding brought his growing family of little mascot meerkats and baby meerkat was briefly 'kidnapped' before being found in a bar in Piran early on Saturday morning.

· How many mentions of faecal plumes will there be

• Too many – stop going on about it – the resolution passed!

Questions that I should have asked but did not – with answers:

·        After its long absence from the IWC will Kenya – African champion of terrestrial conservation – return as a member of the like-minded or the pro-commercial whaling camp?

Kenya appeared to vote consistently with the pro-commercial whaling nations

·        Will the distinguished Commissioner from Luxembourg, Pierre Gallego, get the biggest laugh of the whole meeting?

·        Yes he will – see report from the last day.

Pierre of Luxembourg and his coffee

·        Will the distinguished alternate Commissioner for Austria – my buddy Michael Stachowitsch  – win the prestigious Hans and Lotte Hass Conservation award this year:

·        Yes he will – congratulations Michael.

·        Will the Executive Secretary of the IWC look tired but happy at the end of the meeting?

·        Yes.

And finally can I recommend any reading about some of the issues dealt with at IWC 66?

           

Yes I can see HERE.

More pictures and analysis later!