Perspectives and controversies about the International Whaling Commission: analysis of the Whale Sanctuary in the South Atlantic proposal creation

• Grant number: 12/24757-0
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Master
• Start date: August 01, 2013
• End date: February 28, 2014
• Field of knowledge: Humanities - Political Science - International Politics
• Principal Investigator: José Blanes Sala
• Grantee: Raquel Rivera Soldera
• Host Institution: Centro de Engenharia, Modelagem e Ciências Sociais Aplicadas (CECS). Universidade Federal do ABC (UFABC). Ministério da Educação (Brasil). Santo André , SP, Brazil

Abstract

This project is to examine the current role and diagnosticate the purpose and agency of the International Whaling Commission, an intergovernmental body created in 1946 to regulate whaling, but with the need to protect the environment, whose concern begins in the 60s, and the global moratorium on commercial whaling established in 1986, has submitted two different roles; on the one hand encouraging the development of activities for the whales protection and conservation, such as whale watching, and otherwise facilitating decisions that favor countries that have an interest in the resumption of commercial whaling, preventing the creation of whale sanctuaries internationally. To better explain this situation, an analysis will be made on the proposal to create a whale sanctuary in the South Atlantic, which has been presented at International Whaling Commission meetings since 2001 by Brazil, along with Argentina, but not reach the qualified majority of ¾ of the member countries votes for approval. This scenario illustrates the current state of the International Whaling Commission, consisting of 89 Member States which fall into a conservation group and another group in favor of the return of whaling. With this, it will be possible diagnosed the role of the International Whaling Commission today and his performance, considering the international marine environmental governance.