Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, with reference to Government grants statistics 2020 to 2021, published on 31 March 2022, what assessment her Department has made of the effectiveness of the International Whaling Commission Voluntary Grant Contribution.

The UK has a track record of providing voluntary contributions to the International Whaling Commission, in support of the primary global body with the competence and mandate for the conservation and management of cetaceans. The 2020 UK voluntary contribution of £60,000, along with contributions from other parties, has assisted in the continuation of the ‘IWC Bycatch Mitigation initiative’, and delivery of the ‘IWC Ship Strikes Work Plan 2022-24’. The Ship Strikes Work Plan was successfully published in 2022 and work is underway to identify and implement a range of measures to reduce ship-strikes, including through collaboration with the International Maritime Organization and other relevant international bodies. We will continue to support the important work of the IWC to uphold the moratorium on whaling and deliver on its extensive conservation work programme.