Lausanne, Switzerland, 9 June 2005: IWMC World Conservation Trust, the world's leading pro-sustainable use conservation group, warned today that time could be running out for the small population of endangered western gray whales that are threatened by the expansion of the Sakhalin II gas project. The project's economic stakeholders, led by the UK-Dutch multinational Royal Dutch Shell and including the British government, are now circumventing an independent expert report that assessed the risks of the project.

In February 2005, the report, commissioned by Shell's subsidiary, Sakhalin Energy Investment Company Ltd. (SEIC), and produced by an Independent Scientific Review Panel (ISRP) established by the IUCN (World Conservation Union), concluded that the whale population, numbering around 100 animals, could be threatened by the further development of the project. The question, they concluded, is not how to manage the risks but how to avoid them.

SEIC's industrial activities are based in the only known feeding grounds of the gray whales and the company tasked the Panel with determining whether the planned Phase 2 of the project could be managed in an effective way. The Panel demonstrated that the gray whale population might not recover even if there are no additional risks beyond those it already faces. Risks increased substantially under plausible impact scenarios considered by the Panel, with persistent and possibly small effects potentially having serious impacts on the overall status of the population.

SEIC subsequently decided to construct a pipeline that takes a longer route from the gas fields to land, 20 kilometers south of its original location. However, while being environmentally preferable to two other routes it was considering, the selection still carries a negative impact and does nothing to ensure the survival of the gray whale population.

Eugene Lapointe, President of IWMC, said: "SEIC loaded the deck with three pipeline options, all of which were economic winners. It is not surprising that it selected the lesser of three environmental evils but SEIC has still produced no scientific evidence to demonstrate that this adjustment will do anything substantive to properly protect the western grays from its industrial activities. SEIC must consider how it can counterbalance the negative impact of this project so that there is no overall disbenefit to the whale population."

The United Kingdom government is a key financier of the project through its Export Credit and Guarantee Department (ECGD), part of the Department of Trade and Industry. In 2004, government minister Mike O'Brien gave assurances to the British Parliament that "the best scientific advice is being followed" to minimize the environmental impact on western grays, referring to the ISRP which was then underway. However, the clear conclusion of that expert advice - that the project will harm the whales' chances of survival - is now being ignored and yet the ECGD is continuing to collaborate with SEIC.

Ironically, later this month, at the annual meeting of the International Whaling Commission (IWC) in Ulsan, South Korea, the UK government will oppose the sustainable harvesting of abundant minke whales by Japan, Norway and Iceland.

"The British government is guilty of great hypocrisy. It objects to all commercial whaling, whatever the level of abundance of the species, and however small the catch and yet it gives financial backing to an industrial project that threatens one of the smallest and most precarious whale stocks in the world. Clearly, policies in London are being driven purely by economic interests and not by any genuine conservation concerns. "

IWMC believes Shell should organize the comprehensive east Asian strategy to conserve gray whales that the Panel report recommended.

Some animal rights groups and environmentalist organizations have withdrawn or reduced their opposition to the Sakhalin II project since SEIC made its decision on the pipeline location.

For further information, contact Eugène Lapointe
Florida: +1(727) 734-4949 or email: iwmc@iwmc.org