Polar Bear

Doing the right thing, at the right time, for polar bears

Read WWF’s Letter to Secretary of State Hillary Clinton

© State Department Photo

In the past few years, the impacts of climate change have included dramatic sea ice and habitat loss. All the evidence points to the need for a new approach to polar bear conservation, one that takes climate change into account. The planet is rapidly moving towards a tipping point with climate change impacts on polar bears. Unless immediate action is taken by responsible governments, we may be relegating polar bears to extinction in the wild within the lifetime of our children.

On March 17, 2009, delegates from the United States, Canada, Russia, Greenland, and Norway -- leaders in polar bear and Arctic conservation efforts -- convened in Tromsø, Norway for the Meeting of the Parties. This was the first such meeting for more than 25 years and the consequence of inaction here was dire.

Participating governments need to recognize that the world has changed since 1973 when the Parties to the International Agreement on the Conservation of Polar Bears and their Habitats (ACPB) first convened. They needed to realize that the greatest threat to polar bears has shifted from illegal and unsustainable harvests to a danger that looms large for the entire planet – climate change.

MEASURES OF SUCCESS

© Steve Morello / WWF-Canon

WWF viewed the Tromsø meeting as a unique – perhaps last – opportunity to influence international efforts not only on species conservation but also on global climate change.

We called on the governments at the Meeting of the Parties to influence global efforts that address climate change swiftly and meaningfully by collectively committing to immediate and meaningful actions that will secure the future of polar bears. In so doing, these governments would continue to honor their legal obligation to take immediate, coordinated and cooperative action for polar bears across the Arctic.

At the meeting, we exerted pressure for official recognition that, ultimately, without a global deal on climate change, the fate of the polar bear was grim.

Our goals for the meeting also included providing members of the Meeting of the Parties with tools that will help them achieve their conservation goals around climate change, species management and sustainable financing.

Meeting Results: Success!
Five nations committed by treaty to conserve polar bears have come up with a resolution linking the future of the species to urgent global action on climate change. They also recognized formally the urgent need for an effective global response that will address the challenges of climate change.

© Erik Malm Photography

The meeting made some other important advances. It has agreed to come up with a circumpolar action plan for the management of bears, and to formally designate the Polar Bear Specialist Group of the World Conservation Union (IUCN) as the scientific advisory body to the Agreement. These were both measures proposed by WWF in advance of the meeting.

“Although we are generally very pleased with the outcome of the meeting, this is by no means the end of the story - it is the start on the path to polar bear survival,” said Geoff York, WWF's polar bear expert. “The real proof of this new commitment to taking urgent and effective action on climate change is what leaders of these nations will commit to later this year. Ministers from these five countries are meeting in this same town toward the end of April at a meeting of the Arctic Council, and have a golden opportunity then to outline their national commitment to climate change.” 

Ultimately, the polar bear nations must join with other countries at the UN climate conference in Copenhagen in December 2009 to sign an effective global deal on climate change that will save the polar bears’ Arctic sea ice habitat, along with the entire ice ecosystem.