"At the U.N. Ocean Conference, Tonga’s princess called for recognition of whales’ legal rights. The move is one of several rights of nature initiatives happening at the conference."
"Tonga, a Pacific Island nation with deep connections to the ocean and its non-human inhabitants, could become the first country in the world to recognize that whales have inherent rights.
Speaking in Nice, France, where the United Nations Ocean Conference is taking place, Tongan Princess Angelika Lātūfuipeka Tukuʻaho called for the recognition of whales as legal persons.
“The time has come to recognize whales not merely as resources but as sentient beings with inherent rights,” Lātūfuipeka Tukuʻaho said.
The announcement indicated that Tonga, a constitutional monarchy, could move forward with recognizing whales as legal persons and appointing human guardians to represent them in court."
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