The lobby said that a study shows that harpooning the whale is less damaging to the climate than farming livestock. But the Environmental group Greenpeace dismissed the survey, saying almost every kind of food was more climate friendly than meat. Rune Froevik of the High North Alliance, said that a kilo of whale meat represented just 1.9 kilo of greenhouse gases and it turns out that the best thing people can do for the planet.
The study also showed that the greenhouse emissions caused by one meal of beef are the equivalent of eight meals of whale meat. The Alliance said that the fish and seafood was comparable to whale meat with relatively low emissions. Norway and Japan are the two main whaling nations and now they are seeking new arguments to promote whale meat after years of condemnation from anti-whaling nations for breaking with a 1986 moratorium to save whale species from extinction.
According to the Alliance survey eight whaling vessels emitted 885 tonnes of carbon dioxide in 2007 by burning diesel fuel and landed 461 tonnes of whale meat. Now the International Whaling Commission (IWC) said it will hold a special meeting to review deadlock between pro- and anti-whaling nations.
