Thousands of whales will continue to be killed each year following the collapse on Wednesday of international negotiations to redraw whaling rules after two intense days of secret talks.
Nonetheless, anti-whaling groups hailed the collapse as a success, as it means the ban on whaling — introduced 24 years ago but ignored by some nations — remains in place.
Pro and anti-whaling countries failed to reach a compromise agreement at the meeting of the 88 member countries of the International Whaling Commission (IWC) in Agadir, Morocco.
Acting IWC chairman Anthony Liverpool said “fundamental positions remained very much apart’” while chief US delegate Monica Medina said: “After nearly three years of discussions, it appears we are at an impasse.”
Pro-whaling countries Japan, Norway and Iceland — with backing from the US, New Zealand and some green groups — had proposed lifting a ban on commercial whaling in return for cutting the number of whales killed under quotas that would reduce over a 10-year period.
But Britain, Australia and Latin American countries opposed ending the moratorium.
The failure to reach a consensus means the issue has been put to one side for at least a year .
The result also calls into question the future of the IWC, with documents published at the meeting saying “the status quo is not an option for an effective multilateral organization.”
But the current situation, in which Norway and Iceland hunt whales despite the IWC ban and Japan uses a “scientific whaling” loophole to hunt 1,000 mostly minke whales, will now continue.
Wendy Elliott at WWF, which along with Greenpeace and the Pew Environment Group issued a statement on Monday backing a lifting of the ban under certain conditions, was disappointed at the outcome.
“Governments failed to find a way forward,” she said. “Once again, they have put politics before science. This brings into question the integrity of the commission and its ability to make meaningful decisions that benefit whale conservation.”
Japanese whaling commissioner Yasue Funayama said her country had offered major concessions to reach a compromise and blamed anti-whaling nations which refused to accept the killing of a single animal.
“We must rise above politics and engage in a broader perspective,” she said.
The head of the New Zealand delegation, Geoffrey Palmer, blamed an “absence of political will.”
Richard Benyon, Britain’s minister for the marine environment, said: “It is hugely disappointing that the world could not come together to give greater protection to these magnificent creatures.”
“We in the UK have been consistently clear that any new agreement must reduce the numbers of whales that are killed each year with the aim of a complete phase-out of all commercial whaling,” he said. “We could not support an agreement that did not have conservation at its heart.”
But anti-whaling campaigners hailed the breakdown as a victory.
“We have won the battle to keep the ban in place but must continue to fight to win the war on all whaling,” Whale and Dolphin Conservation Society CEO Chris Butler-Stroud said.
“We must not forget that Japan, Iceland and Norway continue to whale outside of the sanction of the IWC, and that is a situation that has to change. Their whaling activities must come to an end once and for all,” he said.
Patrick Ramage, director of the International Fund for Animal Welfare’s global whale campaign, also spoke out.
He said: “Under a cloud of corruption allegations, the IWC is taking a safe course, opting for a cooling off period that protects the moratorium and other IWC conservation measures. Had it been done here, this deal would have lived in infamy.”
The IWC meeting, which is usually open, drew criticism for going into secret session on Monday.
The negotiations also took place in the shadow of corruption claims, with newspaper allegations suggesting Japan had bought countries’ pro-whaling votes by paying for flights and IWC membership fees, a charge that was denied.
Japan, Norway and Iceland have reportedly killed 35,000 whales since the IWC started a ban on commercial whaling in 1986.
Japan conducts its Antarctic kills in the southern ocean using a loophole in the ban which allows whales to be killed for research purposes.
Norway and Iceland operate commercial whaling in the northern hemisphere outside of IWC control.
Nauru has started selling passports to fund climate action, but is so far struggling to attract new citizens to the low-lying, largely barren island in the Pacific Ocean. Nauru, one of the world’s smallest nations, has a novel plan to fund its fight against climate change by selling so-called “Golden Passports.” Selling for US$105,000 each, Nauru plans to drum up more than US$5 million in the first year of the “climate resilience citizenship” program. Almost six months after the scheme opened in February, Nauru has so far approved just six applications — covering two families and four individuals. Despite the slow start —
YELLOW SHIRTS: Many protesters were associated with pro-royalist groups that had previously supported the ouster of Paetongtarn’s father, Thaksin, in 2006 Protesters rallied on Saturday in the Thai capital to demand the resignation of court-suspended Thai Prime Minister Paetongtarn Shinawatra and in support of the armed forces following a violent border dispute with Cambodia that killed more than three dozen people and displaced more than 260,000. Gathered at Bangkok’s Victory Monument despite soaring temperatures, many sang patriotic songs and listened to speeches denouncing Paetongtarn and her father, former Thai prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra, and voiced their backing of the country’s army, which has always retained substantial power in the Southeast Asian country. Police said there were about 2,000 protesters by mid-afternoon, although
MOGAMI-CLASS FRIGATES: The deal is a ‘big step toward elevating national security cooperation with Australia, which is our special strategic partner,’ a Japanese official said Australia is to upgrade its navy with 11 Mogami-class frigates built by Japan’s Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, Australian Minister for Defence Richard Marles said yesterday. Billed as Japan’s biggest defense export deal since World War II, Australia is to pay US$6 billion over the next 10 years to acquire the fleet of stealth frigates. Australia is in the midst of a major military restructure, bolstering its navy with long-range firepower in an effort to deter China. It is striving to expand its fleet of major warships from 11 to 26 over the next decade. “This is clearly the biggest defense-industry agreement that has ever
DEADLY TASTE TEST: Erin Patterson tried to kill her estranged husband three times, police said in one of the major claims not heard during her initial trial Australia’s recently convicted mushroom murderer also tried to poison her husband with bolognese pasta and chicken korma curry, according to testimony aired yesterday after a suppression order lapsed. Home cook Erin Patterson was found guilty last month of murdering her husband’s parents and elderly aunt in 2023, lacing their beef Wellington lunch with lethal death cap mushrooms. A series of potentially damning allegations about Patterson’s behavior in the lead-up to the meal were withheld from the jury to give the mother-of-two a fair trial. Supreme Court Justice Christopher Beale yesterday rejected an application to keep these allegations secret. Patterson tried to kill her
RSS