Diplomats Decide: No Species are Worth Saving
The Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species meeting in Doha recently went down. It is the international organization which agrees upon which species are endangered and thus are in dire need of protection.
They concluded that nothing needs protection.
Sure, the critters already on the list get protected. But bluefin tuna? Not a chance. Ignoring the fact that populations are crashing and the scientific consensus is that the population may have already fallen below sustainable levels, Japan lead the charge to defeat the protection. Because, well, bluefin tuna makes tasty sushi.
But it was not just the tuna. The delegates from 137 countries decided that for the next three years, until they meet again, absolutely nothing needs protection.
The only protection that had gone through -- for the Porbeagle shark -- was brought back to the table on Thursday and voted down, 84 nations for, 46 against and 10 abstentions. Japan brought the resolution back up because they did not want to set the precedent of protecting something which can be commercially fished. Seriously.
Close to 100million sharks are caught per year, and it is believed that some populations have declined 80% in the past decade.
"In 2010 rather than curtailing the loss of biodiversity we are accelerating it -- speeding toward the elimination of species around the world. The real story here at CITES is not so much about the animals and plants but the back-room deals and short-term greed that is destroying the planet,"
It was widely reported that Japan was buying votes through offering development assistance. Other nations were guilty as well - but in this case, not the US. The US was actually listening to its (and other nations) scientists and was legitimately pushing for protections.
The whole thing was so screwed up that when a test was run and the organizer asked everyone to vote "Yes," seven voted "No" and two abstained. The next day, they used the question "Is Doha the capital of Qatar?" (where the meeting was held) to run a test. Two nations, Croatia and Cameroon, voted "No," and China, on principle, abstained.
The overriding decision was to protect commerce at the expense of conservation. And while I am a very capitalist libertarian, I am incredibly pissed off by this. The oceans are the definition of a "common good." Quite simply, they need protection, and as they do not belong to any one nation, they need international protection. But because screwing up the oceans happens quite literally below the surface, the public does not pay much attention. The critters, generally, are not cute, cuddly, or commonly used as heroes or heroines in bedtime stories.
I have a second theory, that humans can only hold on to a few (one?) big picture environmental argument at a time. It used to be the whales, then the rainforest, then the hole in the ozone and now climate change. But the issue with climate change is that we have forgotten about all the rest of it. Sure, if the earth heats up 2 degrees, we will lose some biodiversity. We will lose a hell of a lot more biodiversity if we fish everything in the ocean to extinction and burn down the rainforest. However, right now, that is not a major concern. But buying a Prius is.
Its like a house. Most people see one room at a time, and that is all they can think about. A lot of people seem stuck with their head in the fridge, and thats really all they can see. A large number are hanging out in the toilet, others in the bedroom, some sitting and watching TV. If you ask almost any of them to describe where they are, or the important things going on around them, they would look at the room they are in and tell you what is right in front of them. And that's as far as they go.
They concluded that nothing needs protection.
Sure, the critters already on the list get protected. But bluefin tuna? Not a chance. Ignoring the fact that populations are crashing and the scientific consensus is that the population may have already fallen below sustainable levels, Japan lead the charge to defeat the protection. Because, well, bluefin tuna makes tasty sushi.
But it was not just the tuna. The delegates from 137 countries decided that for the next three years, until they meet again, absolutely nothing needs protection.
The only protection that had gone through -- for the Porbeagle shark -- was brought back to the table on Thursday and voted down, 84 nations for, 46 against and 10 abstentions. Japan brought the resolution back up because they did not want to set the precedent of protecting something which can be commercially fished. Seriously.
Close to 100million sharks are caught per year, and it is believed that some populations have declined 80% in the past decade.
"In 2010 rather than curtailing the loss of biodiversity we are accelerating it -- speeding toward the elimination of species around the world. The real story here at CITES is not so much about the animals and plants but the back-room deals and short-term greed that is destroying the planet,"
It was widely reported that Japan was buying votes through offering development assistance. Other nations were guilty as well - but in this case, not the US. The US was actually listening to its (and other nations) scientists and was legitimately pushing for protections.
The whole thing was so screwed up that when a test was run and the organizer asked everyone to vote "Yes," seven voted "No" and two abstained. The next day, they used the question "Is Doha the capital of Qatar?" (where the meeting was held) to run a test. Two nations, Croatia and Cameroon, voted "No," and China, on principle, abstained.
The overriding decision was to protect commerce at the expense of conservation. And while I am a very capitalist libertarian, I am incredibly pissed off by this. The oceans are the definition of a "common good." Quite simply, they need protection, and as they do not belong to any one nation, they need international protection. But because screwing up the oceans happens quite literally below the surface, the public does not pay much attention. The critters, generally, are not cute, cuddly, or commonly used as heroes or heroines in bedtime stories.
I have a second theory, that humans can only hold on to a few (one?) big picture environmental argument at a time. It used to be the whales, then the rainforest, then the hole in the ozone and now climate change. But the issue with climate change is that we have forgotten about all the rest of it. Sure, if the earth heats up 2 degrees, we will lose some biodiversity. We will lose a hell of a lot more biodiversity if we fish everything in the ocean to extinction and burn down the rainforest. However, right now, that is not a major concern. But buying a Prius is.
Its like a house. Most people see one room at a time, and that is all they can think about. A lot of people seem stuck with their head in the fridge, and thats really all they can see. A large number are hanging out in the toilet, others in the bedroom, some sitting and watching TV. If you ask almost any of them to describe where they are, or the important things going on around them, they would look at the room they are in and tell you what is right in front of them. And that's as far as they go.
Nicely written! LOVE the blog and site.
ReplyDeleteNicely written! LOVE the blog and site.
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