Basic issues in international environmental law - Introduction to International Environmental Law - page 7

The other polar area, the Arctic, was a key strategic territory during the
Cold War, because of the geographical proximity of both the Soviet Union
and the United States and because nuclear submarines in the area could carry
and release long-range nuclear missiles across the Arctic Ocean and threaten
strategic targets. With this undoubtedly in mind, in his Murmansk speech in
1987, Soviet Secretary-General Mikhail Gorbachev proposed that the Arctic
be reserved as an area of cooperation. Finland took heed of the proposal and
suggested that all eight Arctic governments implement a policy of cooperative
environmental protection. The process culminated in the Arctic Environmental
Protection Strategy (AEPS) which was initiated in 1991. Earlier in the Cold
War, efforts to create mutual trust had resulted in a trans-East-West agreement
on environmental protection: in 1973 Denmark, Norway, Canada and the
Cold War rivals the USA and the USSR signed the International Agreement
on the Conservation of Polar Bears. 10
So we see that many factors infl uence the development of an international
environmental regime, as the case of the whaling regime well demonstrates.
The 1946 International Convention for the Regulation of Whaling is admin-
istered by the International Whaling Commission (IWC). It was established to
promote sustainable whaling in the same way that fi shing conventions admin-
ister various fi sh species: fi shing is controlled only enough to secure the natural
renewal of a certain fi sh population in a certain area from year to year.
Scientifi c research has allowed us to gradually increase our knowledge about
whales, and we now understand whales to be intelligent animals with advanced
mutual communication. Strong public organizations started to advocate the pro-
tection of whales and other animals, and government policies began to refl ect
this new perspective on whales.
In 1982, the IWC prohibited all commercial whaling (the prohibition came
into force in hunting season 1985-86), which divided the treaty system: some
governments pursued a total ban on whaling, while others wanted to continue
whaling. Those who wished to continue the practice assumed various strategies:
Canada withdrew from the agreement, while Norway fi led a protest, as it con-
sidered that the prohibition was not based on scientifi c assessment. Having
protested, Norway was free to continue whaling legally, which became the basis
for diplomatic wrangling between Norway on one side and Finland and Sweden
on the other regarding the hunting of minke whales. Japan, too, fi led a protest but
withdrew it when the United States threatened to apply trade sanctions and cut the
Japanese fi shing quota in its waters. Japan continues whaling, claiming that this is
purely for the purposes of scientifi c research and within the limits of the agreement.
Iceland withdrew from the IWC in 1992, but after a number of contentious and
very close votes was readmitted in 2002 with a reservation to the whaling ban - a
reservation to which half of the IWC states in attendance formally objected. The
whaling agreement also permits traditional hunting by indigenous peoples.