Why the whalers won

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http://commentisfree.guardian.co.uk/tony_juniper/2006/06/must_we_buy_countries_s\

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Environmentalists must learn from the successes of Japan's pro-whaling campaign.

June 16th will be known to some as the start of the coarse fishing season in

England and Wales. It doesn't have the same ring to it as the " glorious " 12th of

August when people take to the moors for the commencement of the British grouse

shooting season, but soon June 16th could take on a new and quite ominous

importance. June 16th could mark the start of a new open season on the world's

whales.

Since 1986 commercial whaling has been banned. This historic decision, taken

collectively by governments in the International Whaling Commission (IWC)

following increasingly bleak scientific assessments that showed how the great

whales, among them the largest animal ever to have lived on Earth, the blue

whale, were being systematically exterminated to the point where there continued

existence was in doubt. The loophole of " scientific whaling " has enabled a few

determined countries (Japan, Norway and Iceland) to maintain some limited

capacity to kill some species of these animals, but now the restricted ability

to go whaling could be considerably expanded.

 

The reason increased whaling is now a possibility is because of a long-running

campaign by the government of Japan to reverse restrictions that for two decades

have allowed the populations of some whales to begin a slow recovery following

centuries of unsustainable exploitation. What Japan has done is to use its

considerable diplomatic influence and overseas aid programme to persuade a

number of (mostly) small developing countries to support its pro-whaling

ambitions in IWC negotiations.

 

At the IWC meeting in 2005 in South Korea many campaigners feared that Japan had

already succeeded in recruiting a majority of countries to support its proposals

to allow more whaling. At that meeting Japan was narrowly foiled (by one vote).

On June 16th 2006, however, with the admission of Cambodia and the Marshall

Islands (not notable whaling nations) to the IWC it looks likely that the tide

will be turned against the the whales. Both countries have been encouraged by

Japan to join the IWC and are expected to vote in favour of its positions. Later

this month, a majority of the 69 countries who are members of the IWC could be

backing an expansion of whaling.

 

I have attended many international environmental negotiations over the years and

while the " sustainable use " of this and the " conservation " of the other make for

comforting reading to those outside the process, it is very clear from the

inside that talks are most guided by the brutal politics of national self

interest and the economic vested concerns of various industrial lobbies. Whaling

is no exception.

 

For countries that say they are opposed to whaling restrictions being lifted

there are some really important issues raised by Japan's impending success in

gaining majority voice for its pro-whaling plans at the IWC. These relate in

particular to the use of foreign policy and overseas development programmes as

tools for more sustainable international agreements. There is no doubt that

Japan has used money to get poor small countries to see its way of thinking. Are

we willing to do that? And if we are prepared to go down that route, would it be

right?

 

I am one of those who has campaigned (in some cases successfully) to de-link aid

budgets from national political priorities. New Labour's abandonment of the

so-called Aid-Trade Provision that used to help British exporters to use

development aid as subsidy for their products and services being bought by

developing countries was a case in point that was welcomed by Friends of the

Earth. The removal of some conditions does not mean, however, that " ethical "

foreign policy is incompatible with all conditions.

 

The global environmental situation is so serious that in the face of Japan's

example we have no other choice but to implement an explicit pro-environment

foreign policy and aid programme. While Japan has been working for years to

recruit new supporters to its cause in the IWC, the UK, USA, Australia and

others who are opposed to resuming commercial whaling appear to have had no

comparable strategic approach. And now they are on the back foot and in real

danger of suffering an historic defeat on perhaps the most iconic conservation

challenge ever - saving the whales.

 

Climate change, the mass extinction of species and resource depletion

undoubtedly pose the most serious and pressing challenges of our time. The UK

uses diplomatic and aid leverage to advance human rights, fight corruption,

promote democracy and support anti-terror objectives, and I think most people

would agree with that. It is rarely, if ever, however, that conditions are

attached to how we develop our international relations on the basis of the

position of countries in international environmental negotiations. Perhaps it is

time we changed tack.

 

I welcomed Margaret Beckett's move to foreign secretary (from being the

secretary of state for the environment, food and rural affairs). It seemed like

a good idea to have an effective environmental campaigner in charge of the

Foreign Office, especially at a time when the UK is such an important global

player on climate change. But what will she do in that role to make the UK a

more effective voice on the enviornment internationally?

 

In light of the apparent impending success of Japan's long-running pro-whaling

campaign, it is perhaps time for reflection here in the UK. If one of our

national priorities really does concern the future of the global environment, as

the prime minister says it does, then maybe we should really begin to see signs

of a more strategic and joined up programme for international relations. The

present UK government has (correctly) concluded that our national self interest

is directly bound into how countries collectively react to challenges like

climate change. If we are realistic about how international politics works,

perhaps we should take a leaf from the Japanese book of whaling.

 

 

 

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