The value of non-human animals: A study of member parties to CITES views of non-human animals’ value connected to the illegal wildlife trade at CoP19

Sammanfattning: Abstract The illegal wildlife trade (IWT) is the fourth largest global illegal crime, and it threatens the balance of ecosystems, biodiversity, and human security. The Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES) is an international treaty, which purpose is to guarantee that international wildlife trade is legal, sustainable, and traceable. This study explores how member parties to CITES view non-human animals’ value connected to the IWT, and the Global South–Global North dynamics. By using a theoretical framework including anthropocentrism, posthumanism (welfarist, ecological, and basic rights approach) and ecofeminism, the study analysis how member parties to CITES from the Global South respectively the Global North views align and/or differ. Interviews with member parties to CITES, official CITES documents, and observation from Committee II’s meetings at the Nineteenth Conference of the Parties to the Convention (CoP19), that took place in Panama City in 2022, reveal both an overall alignment and in general differentiations between the Global South and the Global North depending on the species. The Global South has more anthropocentric, ecological, and basic rights views, while the Global North views are more welfarist.