Successful activism and WTO Agreement on Fisheries Subsidies

With the World Trade Organisation (WTO) Agreement on Fisheries Subsidies, the first WTO agreement with an explicit focus on sustainability came into force last September, following its ratification by two-thirds of the member states. The agreement primarily aims to curb harmful subsidies that encourage overfishing and illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing. It is binding only for countries that have ratified it. However, these include some of the world’s largest subsidisers, such as the EU, China and the United States. However, other key players in the fishing industry, such as India and Indonesia, are not on board.

Activism can pay off

After three French NGOs filed a lawsuit against TotalEnergies in 2022, the oil company was recently convicted by a Paris court for making misleading claims about its environmental performance. The case centered on a major campaign in which the company suggested it could become climate neutral by 2050 – visually supported by images of wind turbines and solar parks. At the same time, however, it continued to invest heavily in expanding oil and gas production. The court therefore decided, for the first time, to apply France’s anti-greenwashing law.

Meanwhile, the Brazilian government has reversed a decision to privatise the Tapajós River in the Amazon and open it up for industrial use, after Indigenous activists from the Munduruku, Arapiun and Apiaká communities protested for several weeks. The reversal is seen as an important step against the expansion of agribusiness in the Amazon, which had planned to develop the river into a key transport route.

We regularly update you on more positive developments in our Good News section.

The D+C editorial team
euz.editor@dandc.eu