David Levy – Small Victories : Are They Enough? – Jul 2016
When I ponder over the separate and self-serving world of the NGO movement, both nationally and globally, I ask myself the obvious question:
When the conservation situation of our marine world is so fragile and over-exploited, why is it that those with the resources do not try to amalgamate all forces as an international voice to effect change?
If NASA speaks, then the world listens.
If the UN speaks, countries generally ignore their voice.
So what is it that defines action or inaction?
NASA and the international space community have established a protocol of co-operation which supports that whole community, and is watched over by them all.
This sense of co-operation has also been delivered when it comes to exploration of the Arctic and Antarctic. However global warming has changed the physical world, and brought operations in these environments within operational reach. This change has, in turn, brought co-operative agreements under pressure.
In a world of shrinking resources everything is up for grabs unless we can persuade societies that proportioned management is the only way we can pass on those resources to future generations.
It’s a tall ask when we cannot even agree on what is democracy, and even whether we want this to rule our lives. Certainly the greedy grabbing nature of our own society cannot be perceived by poorer nations to be a sound principle for democracy.
Individually we aspire to help via Fairtrade and agencies which give support, but we do so as a society that supports corrupt governments which allow exploitation to our benefit over their own people’s food security and their own bank balances.
The trouble is one of out of sight and out of control.
Marinet was the only NGO to campaign for EU Fishing Subsidies to deliver on board CCTV for every boat that operates internationally and also for global positioning, but we recognised that in itself this was not enough.
It takes an arm of the UN to enforce global agreements. This requires a marine Police force to enforce UNCLOSUNCLOS The United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea, also called the Law of the Sea Convention or the Law of the Sea treaty. laws with accepted power to stop and search. This power also requires a more stringent ability to destroy fishing gear, and the destruction of vessels where flagrant flouting of international law is proven. An online tribunal could easily be established to this effect.
The American Wild West was only overcome with society agreeing it was time for change, and then bringing in the law to enforce their society.
The world needs to decide if this is what it wants, or it is prepared always for the strong to prosper and the weak to starve.
David Levy,
Chair
