Pierce Brosnan has joined a campaign to save the whales

He said: "We are passionate about efforts to protect our planet’s great whales and their ocean habitat. Although many people think we saved the whales in the 1970s, surprisingly, whales face more threats today than ever before. Therefore, there is a genuine sense of urgency needed in the ongoing fight to protect these magnificent creatures, as well as a renewed sense of optimism ...

"This is the first IWC meeting since Japan restarted its so-called 'scientific research' whaling program in the Antarctic, after the U.N. International Court of Justice found it illegal. Since the moratorium, Japan has exploited a loophole to kill more than 15,000 whales under the guise of science. The IWC adopted 22 resolutions over the years calling on Japan to halt or restrict its 'scientific whaling research.'"

The 63-year-old actor has urged the public to use their "power" to put an end to whaling.

In an essay penned for TIME magazine, they continued: "As you may know, the lives of whales (and countless other species) are threatened by the choices that we as humans have made and continue to make as we expand our footprint across the earth. Rogue commercial whaling, noise pollution, chemical pollution, marine debris, ship strikes, climate change, ocean acidification and entanglement in fishing gear are all leading to the demise of these leviathans.

"Therefore, it is more important than ever before that the IWC champions cetacean conservation. The commission must maintain its strong support for the global moratorium on commercial whaling and oppose any efforts to undermine it. And it must call on Japan, Iceland and Norway to end all commercial and 'scientific research' whaling indefinitely.

"We are all forces of nature - the catalysts and agents of change, the architects and engineers of a new tomorrow. We shape and create our reality every moment of every day, and like no species before we have the power to define our future."