UK Steps Up Anti-Whaling Pressure
29 mar 2007 | Source: DiveSter
Last summer, Japan was accused of using "checkbook diplomacy" to foster a paradigm shift in the International Whaling Commission. Japan's new allies in the Commission -- Antigua, Dominica, Grenada, Tuvalu, Nauru, and Kiribati, all of which received millions in Japanese aid the prior year -- voted against the ban on commercial whaling, giving anti-whaling countries on the IWC a one-vote majority. In anticipation's of this year's meetings, the UK is stepping up attempts to secure an anti-whaling majority on the Commission.

To support these efforts, the British government is publishing a brochure to encourage nations that oppose whaling to join the Commission. Claiming whales are "sensitive, social creatures" with some species risking extinction, the UK's recruitment drive will launch officially this week. New EU members -- like Slovenia and Croatia -- and those seeking membership, will be among the first recipients of the brochures. It's tough to predict whether a brochure will do the trick, but I can see potential EU-recruits agreeing to anti-whaling simply to be allowed in the EU's front door.




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