Santiago de Chile, 3 September 2024. One week after sending a letter to President Gabriel Boric and Foreign Minister Van Klaveren regarding the non-payment by the Government of Chile of its membership fee to the International Whaling Commission (IWC) for the last two years, and only 18 days before the 69th Assembly in Lima, Peru, the situation has still not been resolved, jeopardizing Chile’s participation with voting rights.

The absence of voting rights would severely limit Chilean representation, hindering its ability to advocate for vital policy proposals aimed at ocean conservation and the non-lethal use of cetaceans. These proposals are critical for the protection of vulnerable whale populations and their threatened marine ecosystems.

Moreover, without the capacity to vote, Chile may be unable to counter initiatives promoting extra-regional interests, led by Japan’s pro-whaling diplomacy. These initiatives pose a direct threat to the long-standing global moratorium on commercial whaling, which has been in place since 1986.

It is important to note that Japan’s strategy is part of an ongoing geopolitical expansion over vast marine resources in the Pacific Ocean, Southern Ocean, and Antarctica.

Preliminary Responses

Following the presentation of the letter, organizations such as the Cetacean Conservation Centre (CCC), the Latin American Observatory of Environmental Conflicts (OLCA), and the Ecocéanos Centre have garnered widespread attention both nationally and internationally. In response, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs indicated that the payment procedure to the IWC will unusually involve the Undersecretariat of Fisheries and Aquaculture (Subpesca), which falls under the Ministry of Economy.

When asked for clarification, Subpesca acknowledged that the lack of a budget allocation for the IWC payment— which was not included in the budgets inherited from the previous administration — has prompted them to collaborate with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to determine the appropriate mechanism to rectify the outstanding debt. Subpesca has already contacted the Budget Directorate (Dipres), expressing their understanding that there is still time to settle this payment.

Voice of Citizen Organizations

According to the socio-environmental organizations, the potential loss of Chile’s voting rights at the upcoming IWC meeting could represent a profound historical setback, endangering fragile whale populations that are currently in a critical recovery phase. Such a development would also jeopardize the advancements made by citizen movements, scientists, and coastal communities in their ongoing efforts to protect the Southeast Pacific and the Southern Ocean.

These achievements are the result of more than three decades of dedicated social and environmental activism spearheaded by citizens and organized communities. Notably, the 2008 enactment of the Cetacean Protection Law during Michelle Bachelet’s administration led to the establishment of the Whale Sanctuary in Chilean jurisdictional waters. This landmark legislation instituted a State policy that compels government authorities to undertake the protection and conservation of these species beyond national waters and within the IWC framework.

Elsa Cabrera, executive director of CCC, said, “Weakening our voting rights would diminish the foundations of a pioneering policy aimed at safeguarding sovereignty over the 200 nautical miles established by the Santiago Declaration, which Chile, Peru, and Ecuador promoted in 1952. This declaration was fundamentally designed to protect decimated regional whale populations from the predation of foreign industrial fleets. It also marked a significant milestone in international maritime jurisdiction, setting the stage for the principles of international maritime law regarding countries’ jurisdictional control over their Exclusive Economic Zones (EEZ).”

State of environmental alert’ begins in key week for marine conservation

The Director of Centro Ecoceanos, Juan Carlos Cárdenas, stated, “By declaring itself Chile’s first ‘green government’ and announcing in 2022 a commitment to implementing an international ‘green-blue (turquoise) environmental policy,’ this situation severely undermines public credibility and the trust of the international community. The failure to act betrays the essence of an administration that identifies itself not only as ‘green’ but as an ‘environmental government.’”

In a similar tone, OLCA Director Lucio Cuenca expressed concern that “the turquoise foreign policy is deflated; it was supposed to emphasize the protection of terrestrial and marine ecosystems. This situation amounts to a glaring disregard for political commitment to uphold global measures for whale conservation. A bureaucratic explanation or a budgetary constraint is simply unacceptable.”

Cuenca further stated, “The government must account for and clarify the political responsibilities regarding the non-payment of the IWC dues. A week has passed without an adequate response, and the Minister of Environment, Maisa Rojas, remains silent. There has been an unhelpful transfer of responsibility to the Undersecretariat of Fisheries. The government must not only fulfill its financial obligations but also transparently communicate its position and proposed actions for the upcoming IWC meeting.”

In response to these pressing issues, the coalitions of citizen organizations, coastal communities, and socio-environmental movements declared a “state of environmental alert.” They hope that within this week, the Chilean government will take decisive action to settle its outstanding debt, thereby ensuring the complete representation of the official Chilean delegation at the IWC, standing firm among conservationist nations advocating for the non-lethal use of cetaceans as mandated by the citizens.

Source: Centro Ecoceanos