Greenpeace’s biodiversity manager Celia Ojeda emphasized that “whales must be protected at all times”, avoiding “loopholes” in the moratorium commitments, since, in her opinion, Iceland’s decision only “postpones the end of an industry that is already dying”.
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“The logical step would be to shut down once and for all an unnecessary and obsolete industry” that “generates almost no profit” while “tourist sightings” of cetaceans generate revenues of up to $2 billion annually in 119 different countries.
Thus, betting on commercial hunting “violates a global ban” and goes “against the protection of animals, public opinion in Iceland, the country’s own economic interests and its reputation as a nation.”
Ojeda believes that the Scandinavian country should ratify the 2023 UN International Ocean Treaty, like other countries such as Spain or France, before the next UN ocean conference, scheduled for next June in Paris, to protect this and other species, as only seven nations have ratified it so far, while it needs 60 signatures by the end of 2025 to enter into force.
