The Commission agreed that the Budgetary Sub-Committee work intersessionally on the activities identified in Document IWC/69/10.2/01/Rev1 and return to IWC70 with recommendations to address these matters.
The Commission agreed that the General Fund reserves should be drawn on to fund two one-off items: ensuring the Commission is compliant with General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) regulations and funding the gap in the hosting costs of IWC69, noting the latter has already been covered by the Government of Germany.
The Commission noted the ongoing uncertainties with the sale of the Red House and agreed that the General Fund reserves should be drawn on to cover the income gap if the Red House doesn?t sell before 2025.
The Commission agreed in principle to the provisional budget of 2027/2028, which requires increases of 5% in 2027 and 5% in 2028 (Document IWC/69/10.2/01.Rev1 Annex 4). This will be reviewed and adjusted before being presented to the Commission for agreement at IWC70.
The Commission noted the remaining priority needs and exceptional items that are not included in the core budget proposal (Document IWC/69/10.2/01.Rev1 Annex 3).
The Commission agreed to the proposed budget for 2025/2026 which requires increases in financial contributions from Contracting Governments of 3% in 2025 and a further 3% in 2026 (Document IWC/69/10.2/01.Rev1 Annex 1), and noted that this includes new critical priority items (Document IWC/69/10.2/01.Rev1 Annex 2).
The Commission agreed to create a Science Liaison Group, with the Terms of Reference included in Document IWC/69/10.1/07/Rev1.
The Commission thanked the UK Government for their support and the contribution towards the rent and service costs of the new IWC Headquarters and thanked the Government of Germany for their contributions to the running costs of IWC69.
The Commission noted the expected small deficit of the 2024 financial forecast outturn.
