Protect the Integrity of CITES: Lessons From Japan's IWC Withdrawal to Keep Polarization From Tearing CITES Apart

ABSTRACT Unsustainable wildlife trade is a major driver of global biodiversity loss. Effective wildlife trade governance is critical for conservation and requires international cooperation and coordination to regulate an industry valued at hundreds of billions of dollars a year. Yet, due to increasing polarization over consumptive wildlife use, certain countries have become disenfranchised by the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES), the primary mechanism for regulating international wildlife trade. Tensions within CITES are rising over the elephant ivory and rhino horn trade, where polarization has pushed ten Southern African Development Community countries to suggest an outright withdrawal from CITES. The denunciation of CITES by such a large and ecologically significant bloc would substantially weaken the integrity, credibility, and stature of the Convention. There is a contemporary precedent to reference: Japan left the International Whaling Commission (IWC) in 2019 due to polarization over commercial whaling. Here, we examine the common threads between these two cases: changing organizational ethos, polarization amongst members, influence of non‐state actors, and loss of decidability for dissenting nations. Taking critical lessons from Japan's IWC withdrawal, we propose various options for structural reforms in CITES to restore decidability, enable equitability, and implement inclusive decision‐making.

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Publication Details

Journal
Conservation Letters
Published
2025-03-01
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1111/conl.13099
Citations
2
Primary Topic
Global trade, sustainability, and social impact
Type
article
Field-Weighted Citation Impact
4.45

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article

Protect the Integrity of CITES: Lessons From Japan's IWC Withdrawal to Keep Polarization From Tearing CITES Apart

Takahiro Kubo, Nao Takashina, Daniel W. S. Challender, Hubert Cheung et al.
2 citations
Conservation Letters
Global trade, sustainability, and social impact
4.45
article

Protect the Integrity of CITES: Lessons From Japan's IWC Withdrawal to Keep Polarization From Tearing CITES Apart

Takahiro Kubo, Nao Takashina, Daniel W. S. Challender, Hubert Cheung, Annie Young Song, Moreno Di Marco, Hugh P. Possingham, Michelle Anagnostou, Amy Hinsley, Alexander Braczkowski, Duan Biggs, Yifu Wang
article en
2 citations

Abstract

ABSTRACT Unsustainable wildlife trade is a major driver of global biodiversity loss. Effective wildlife trade governance is critical for conservation and requires international cooperation and coordination to regulate an industry valued at hundreds of billions of dollars a year. Yet, due to increasing polarization over consumptive wildlife use, certain countries have become disenfranchised by the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES), the primary mechanism for regulating international wildlife trade. Tensions within CITES are rising over the elephant ivory and rhino horn trade, where polarization has pushed ten Southern African Development Community countries to suggest an outright withdrawal from CITES. The denunciation of CITES by such a large and ecologically significant bloc would substantially weaken the integrity, credibility, and stature of the Convention. There is a contemporary precedent to reference: Japan left the International Whaling Commission (IWC) in 2019 due to polarization over commercial whaling. Here, we examine the common threads between these two cases: changing organizational ethos, polarization amongst members, influence of non‐state actors, and loss of decidability for dissenting nations. Taking critical lessons from Japan's IWC withdrawal, we propose various options for structural reforms in CITES to restore decidability, enable equitability, and implement inclusive decision‐making.

Conservation LettersVol. 18(2)
Griffith University (AU), University of Waterloo (CA), Ritsumeikan Asia Pacific University (JP), The University of Queensland (AU), Yonsei University (KR), National Institute for Environmental Studies (JP), Northern Arizona University (US), Stellenbosch University (ZA), University of Oxford (GB), Chinese University of Hong Kong, Shenzhen (CN), The University of Tokyo (JP), Sapienza University of Rome (IT), Nelson Mandela University (ZA)
Northern Arizona University, UK Research and Innovation, Global Challenges Research Fund, European Commission, University of Queensland, HORIZON EUROPE Framework Programme, Japan Society for the Promotion of Science, H2020 Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions, HORIZON EUROPE Marie Sklodowska-Curie Actions
Openalex Percentile: Top 6%
Global trade, sustainability, and social impact
4.45
DOIOpen Access PDFOpenAlex
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