EU MUST END DANGEROUS FUNDING OF FOSSIL FUELS FOR FISHING INDUSTRY

EU must end dangerous funding of fossil fuels for fishing industry. Reacting to the publication of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change’s (IPCC) mitigation report, Our Fish Programme Director Rebecca Hubbard said:

“UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres clearly captured the essence of the IPCC mitigation report by pinpointing the governments and corporations that continue to support the burning of fossil fuels as the dangerous radicals; it is morally and economically mad to prop up fossil fuels in the current climate emergency.”

“For the EU this means fuel tax subsidies that perpetuate the most polluting and ocean-destructive fishing fleets must be ceased immediately, and a rapid transition to low-impact, low-carbon fishing must be supported instead.”

“These solutions are at hand, but we need EU leaders to act with courage to make them happen – yet by contrast, rumour has it that some EU Member States want to continue subsidising fuel for the fishing industry. Such a stance would put the EU Council in the same basket of liars that the UN Secretary General called out, for saying one thing and doing another”, added Hubbard. “Fishing subsidies distort markets, contribute to unfair trade practices, hinder international cooperation, increase CO2 emissions, and drive illegal and unsustainable fishing.”

“Ending EU fossil fuel subsidies would be one of the most effective ways of reducing the size of destructive, industrial fishing fleets and reducing the overfishing that is depleting fish stocks and ecosystems. Rebuilding fish populations would enable marine ecosystems to function like a healthy body, ensuring they can cycle and sequester more carbon through the fish and the seabed, support more fishers that do not need to burn as much fuel to catch as many fish, and feed more people with less environmental impact.”

“IPCC scientists are literally saying that incremental change is no longer an option – we need to pull out every single solution we have as fast as absolutely possible, and create or build up policies and laws to deliver action at scale. Unless our CO2 emissions peak by 2025, IPCC scientists predict we cannot limit global heating to less than 2.5 degrees; a world that is that hot will make our recent year of firestorms, floods, oil wars, fish stock collapses and the pandemic look like a walk in the park. It is simply horrifying.”

“This is an existential crisis; we must retool, restructure and revamp whole industries, including the fishing industry, in order to cut emissions by 65% by 2030 and limit warming to 1.5 degrees”, said Hubbard. “The EU must embrace the full restorative power of the ocean to help mitigate climate change. Fortunately, the EU can rapidly transition towards low-impact, low-carbon fishing, because we already have a bunch of solutions that can be delivered in the short term: end overfishing, prioritise access to the most sustainable fishers, phase-out destructive fuel-guzzling bottom trawlers, protect marine ecosystems, remove fuel tax subsidies in the revision of the Energy Taxation Directive, and invest in a decarbonisation strategy.”

“We echo UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres’ call to “demand an end to all fossil fuel subsidies”. The EU Council must finally listen to the science, the economics and the people, and end all fuel subsidies for the fishing industry in the revision of the Energy Taxation Directive in order to effectively accelerate the industry’s decarbonisation”, concluded Hubbard.