POLAR BEARS AND CITES APPENDIX I

That this House notes that the next meeting of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES) will take place in March 2013; recognises the near consensus in the scientific community that the warming in the Arctic is a genuine threat to polar bears, with the majority of studied populations declining; accepts that international commercial trade is the second greatest threat to polar bears, with hunting figures increasing in correlation with demand and prices for polar bear skins; regrets that polar bears are only listed in CITES Appendix II, leaving them unprotected against hunting for export; welcomes therefore the proposal from the US, supported by Russia, to uplist polar bears from Appendix II to Appendix I; and urges the Government fully to support this proposal, including by encouraging a positive common approach by all EU governments at CITES in Thailand in spring 2013.