astrapol2
07-20-2004, 03:38 AM
"Whaling Meeting Gets Underway in Italy
SORRENTO, Italy - Japan lost a bid to have voting held by secret ballot at this week's International Whaling Commission — a blow to a country trying to have a 1986 ban on commercial whaling overturned.
Japan's proposal was rejected 29-24 on Monday in the first decision taken by the IWC gathering in this sea resort in southern Italy. Environmentalists applauded the decision, saying it ensured transparency within the organization.
The meeting opened amid long-standing accusations that Japan, the leading pro-whaling country, is using development aid to buy the votes of smaller nations in its campaign against the commercial whaling ban.
"Some of the poorest developing countries in the world are being used to vote in favor of whaling," said John Frizell of Greenpeace International. "This is a clear case of 'money talks' and it's happening in front of us. It is time we put a stop to this ongoing vote buying, before it's too late."
The pro-whaling bloc has grown steadily over the past years. The WWF said the bloc has gone from nine in the year 2000 to 21 in 2003, and forecast this year it would total 27.
Greenpeace lists Suriname, Tuvalu, Mauritania and Ivory Coast as recent additions to the pro-whaling bloc, while WWF singles out Mongolia, a country that does not have a coastline. "
http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=518&ncid=732&e=9&u=/ap/20040720/ap_on_re_eu/italy_whaling
Japan seems to be decided to end the moratory on commercial whaling, by any mean. This could leads to an environmental tragedy.
SORRENTO, Italy - Japan lost a bid to have voting held by secret ballot at this week's International Whaling Commission — a blow to a country trying to have a 1986 ban on commercial whaling overturned.
Japan's proposal was rejected 29-24 on Monday in the first decision taken by the IWC gathering in this sea resort in southern Italy. Environmentalists applauded the decision, saying it ensured transparency within the organization.
The meeting opened amid long-standing accusations that Japan, the leading pro-whaling country, is using development aid to buy the votes of smaller nations in its campaign against the commercial whaling ban.
"Some of the poorest developing countries in the world are being used to vote in favor of whaling," said John Frizell of Greenpeace International. "This is a clear case of 'money talks' and it's happening in front of us. It is time we put a stop to this ongoing vote buying, before it's too late."
The pro-whaling bloc has grown steadily over the past years. The WWF said the bloc has gone from nine in the year 2000 to 21 in 2003, and forecast this year it would total 27.
Greenpeace lists Suriname, Tuvalu, Mauritania and Ivory Coast as recent additions to the pro-whaling bloc, while WWF singles out Mongolia, a country that does not have a coastline. "
http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=518&ncid=732&e=9&u=/ap/20040720/ap_on_re_eu/italy_whaling
Japan seems to be decided to end the moratory on commercial whaling, by any mean. This could leads to an environmental tragedy.