An intersessional meeting of the International Whaling Commission (IWC) took place in London, UK, on 8 March, in an attempt to reduce the existing tensions within the organization.

Participants agreed to increase the use of consensus and reduce that of votes, which tend to lead to confrontation. However, one delegate said no substantive progress on key issues was achieved, in particular on the role the IWC should play. A few days before the meeting, Japan had organized a seminar with 12 developing States that have recently joined, or plan to join, the IWC. Environmentalists accuse Japan of buying the votes in the IWC of countries that receive Japanese aid and have little tradition of whaling.
Links to further information
Terra Daily, 29 February 2008
Greenpeace press release, 6 March 2008
Reuters, 8 March 2008