The Berlin Initiative on Strengthening the Conservation Agenda of the International Whaling Commission: Toward a New Era for Cetaceans?

Abstract

The fifty-fifth meeting of the International Whaling Commission (IWC) was held in Berlin on 16–19 June 2003. The key development at the meeting was the passage of a resolution, denominated ‘the Berlin Initiative’, which established a Conservation Committee to guide the IWC’s future conservation agenda. 1 The extremely narrow margin of passage, 25:20:1, 2 reflected the high level of controversy that the proposal engendered among the parties and non-government organizations that play an active role at IWC meetings. For example, a statement released by 17 parties to the IWC, fully one-third of its membership, expressed concern that the initiative ‘will essentially destroy the already polarized and dysfunctional IWC’, and characterized it as an ‘attempt to change the fundamental objectives . . . and subvert the purpose’ of the Commission. 3 By contrast, supporters of the initiative hailed it as ‘a milestone in the evolution of the IWC’, 4 and ‘a historic day for cetacean conservation’ . 5