Sustainable Fish Legacy 2012 report presented to UN

Sustainable Fish City presented our new Sustainable Fish Legacy 2012 report [1] to Achim Steiner, Executive Director of the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) and
Under-Secretary-General of the United Nations. The presentation took place on a sustainability tour of the London 2012 Olympic Park on the day before the Opening Ceremony.

Kath Dalmeny, convenor of the Sustainable Fish City campaign [2], thanked Achim Steiner on behalf of the campaign for the United Nation's vital work in bringing to the attention of the world the crisis facing fish stocks and marine ecosystems [3]. She also congratulated UNEP for adopting a sustainable fish policy for UNEP's own catering for meetings and events [4], and encouraged Mr Steiner to use his influence with other UN bodies to see this policy adopted in many other international institutions.

"Sustainable Fish City and London 2012 [5] have shown that the buying power of large organisations has a crucial part to play in securing the future for precious fish stocks," she said. "The UN's reports on the state of the world's fisheries make sobering reading and give us the impetus to change. This crisis is happening on our watch, so it is a great task for our generation to bring all fisheries under sustainable management and to use the power of food buying by companies, caterers and retailers to accelerate that change."

The picture shows Sustainable Fish City's Kath Dalmeny (left) congratulating UNEP Executive Director Achim Steiner (centre) and Defra Minister Caroline Spelman (right) on adopting sustainable fish policies for their own catering.

Also present at the sustainability event was Secretary of State for the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, Caroline Spelman MP. Sustainable Fish City also thanked Caroline Spelman for Government Buying Standards, introduced in 2011, that adopted London 2012's sustainable fish standard for one third of government catering [6]. Kath Dalmeny challenged Caroline Spelman to take action to secure the sustainability of all fish bought with public money, including fish served in schools and hospitals [7].

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Notes to editors

1. Sustainable Fish Legacy 2012 is published on 27 July 2012, on the day of the Opening Ceremony of the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games. It charts the remarkable sustainable fish commitments inspired by the London 2012 Games and how these have been achieved.
2. Sustainable Fish City is a campaign run by a group of not-for-profit sustainable food and marine conservation organisations, see: www.sustainablefishcity.net. These include: Marine Conservation Society; Marine Stewardship Council; Seafood Choices Alliance, Pisces Responsible Fish Restaurants; Fish2Fork and Sustain: The alliance for better food and farming (which coordinates the campaign).
3. Each year, the UN issues a "State of World Fisheries and Aquaculture" report, published by the UN's Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO), see the latest report at: www.sustainweb.org/sustainablefishcity/fish_news/mar11_un_highlights_fish_stocks_in_crisis/
4. In March 2011, the UN Environment Programme committed to serving only sustainable fish in its catering for meetings and events, saying: "The UN is determined to demonstrate its 'sustainability credentials' by action on the ground and by good housekeeping at home." Read more about this story at: www.sustainweb.org/sustainablefishcity/united_nations_sustainable_fish_commitment/
5. The organisers of the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games (LOCOG) committed in 2009 to using only "demonstrably sustainable fish". Since that time, the organisations that make up the working party for Sustainable Fish City have been helping LOCOG to fulfil this aim. Read more about this story at: www.sustainweb.org/sustainablefishcity/fish_news/dec09_london_2012_commits_to_demonstrably_sustainable_fish/
6. In June 2011, the Coalition Government committed to using only sustainable fish in all of its catering for Number 10, Whitehall, Central Government departments, prisons, and some parts of the armed forces - improving the meals of nearly 400,000 people. Read more about this story at: www.sustainweb.org/sustainablefishcity/fish_news/jun11_uk_government_commits_to_sustainable_fish/
7. Sustain is campaigning for mandatory health and sustainability standards for food in all public sector institutions, where the food is bought with public money, including schools and hospitals. See the Campaign for Better Hospital Food at: www.sustainweb.org/hospitalfood/