How Cautious is Precautious?: Antarctic Tourism and the Precautionary Principle

2001 ◽  
Vol 50 (4) ◽  
pp. 963-971 ◽  
Author(s):  
Shirley V. Scott
Keyword(s):  
Precautionary Principle ◽  
Environmental Issues ◽  
Principal Factor ◽  
The Precautionary Principle ◽  
Antarctic Treaty ◽  
Scientific Laboratory ◽  
Global Concern ◽  
The Antarctic ◽  
Antarctic Environment ◽  
Antarctic Treaty System

Literature on the Antarctic Treaty System (ATS), particularly that written by citizens of States that are Consultative Parties to the Antarctic Treaty, has often been celebratory in character. The ATS, we have been told, is a model of international co-operation. The regime has prided itself on addressing issues ahead of crisis situations; and, since the conclusion, and subsequent entry into force, of the Environmental Protocol, with its protection of the Antarctic environment. This acclaim of the system that manages Antarctic affairs may be to a large extent warranted. Antarctica has remained peaceful and its value as a scientific laboratory has in recent years been enhanced through the contribution of Antarctic science to understanding environmental issues of global concern. But the environmental credentials of the Treaty System will be immeasurably weakened if it continues to display such a huge anomaly between its treatment of mining and that of tourism. Tourism is covered by only a very weak application of the precautionary principle while the application of the precautionary principle to the issue of mining has been ‘extreme’. The principal factor behind this anomaly appears to be political opportunism.

Convention on the Regulation of Antarctic Mineral Resource Activities: a major addition to the Antarctic Treaty System

Polar Record ◽  
1989 ◽  
Vol 25 (152) ◽  
pp. 19-32 ◽  
Author(s):  
Peter J. Beck
Keyword(s):  
Mineral Resource ◽  
New Zealand ◽  
Future Development ◽  
Political Development ◽  
Significant Development ◽  
Antarctic Treaty ◽  
Key Terms ◽  
The Antarctic ◽  
Antarctic Environment ◽  
Antarctic Treaty System

AbstractIn June 1988, at the final session of the Fourth Special Antarctic Treaty Consultative Meeting in Wellington, New Zealand, the Convention on the Regulation of Antarctic Mineral Resource Activities (CRAMRA) was adopted, bringing to a successful conclusion six years of negotiations. Christopher Beeby, chairman of the discussions, presented the convention as the most important political development affecting Antarctica since the 1959 treaty, especially as it established the ability of the Antarctic Treaty System to reach an internal accommodation even upon matters raising serious political, legal, environmental and other issues. There remain uncertainties regarding the future development of the Antarctic minerals question; for example, when will the minerals convention and the proposed institutional framework come into effect, will its ratification encourage mining, can the fragile Antarctic environment be adequately protected against mining, how will certain key terms and concepts be defined, and will the regime's operation bring latent tensions to the surface? It is also difficult to predict how other governments will react to the convention, in the light of recent UN resolutions on Antarctica. The convention is perceived within the Antarctic Treaty system as a significant development, but it will be some time before a considered evaluation of the Antarctic Minerals Regime can be conducted.

Focussing an Antarctic research programme: the Australian experience

Polar Record ◽  
1992 ◽  
Vol 28 (164) ◽  
pp. 51-56 ◽  
Author(s):  
Bruce W. Davis
Keyword(s):  
Environmental Management ◽  
Research Programme ◽  
Community Interest ◽  
Antarctic Research ◽  
Antarctic Treaty ◽  
Australian Experience ◽  
Maturity Management ◽  
The Antarctic ◽  
Antarctic Environment ◽  
Antarctic Treaty System

AbstractThis paper illustrates the manner in which inceased political and community interest in Antarctica is shifting the focus of Australian Antarctic research towards environmental management, creating tensions amongst bureaucrats and scientists as to programme priorities and funding allocations, and argues the existence of three distinct eras, each with particular chacteristics and orientation, but all reflecting political and scientific perspectives about Antarctic at the relevant time: (a) idosyncratic individualism in the ‘heroic age’ of Antarctic exploration 1890–1945; (b) hydra-headed science programmes within the Antarctic Treaty system 1945–1959–1990; and (c) prospective maturity management of the Antarctic environment in the post-CRAMRA era, 1990 onwards.

scholarly journals Impacts of local human activities on the Antarctic environment

2008 ◽  
Vol 21 (1) ◽  
pp. 3-33 ◽  
Author(s):  
T. Tin ◽  
Z.L. Fleming ◽  
K.A. Hughes ◽  
D.G. Ainley ◽  
P. Convey ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Human Activities ◽  
Management Practices ◽  
Mitigation Measures ◽  
Indigenous Species ◽  
Chemical Contamination ◽  
Wide Range ◽  
Antarctic Treaty ◽  
The Antarctic ◽  
Antarctic Environment ◽  
Antarctic Treaty System

AbstractWe review the scientific literature, especially from the past decade, on the impacts of human activities on the Antarctic environment. A range of impacts has been identified at a variety of spatial and temporal scales. Chemical contamination and sewage disposal on the continent have been found to be long-lived. Contemporary sewage management practices at many coastal stations are insufficient to prevent local contamination but no introduction of non-indigenous organisms through this route has yet been demonstrated. Human activities, particularly construction and transport, have led to disturbances of flora and fauna. A small number of non-indigenous plant and animal species has become established, mostly on the northern Antarctic Peninsula and southern archipelagos of the Scotia Arc. There is little indication of recovery of overexploited fish stocks, and ramifications of fishing activity on bycatch species and the ecosystem could also be far-reaching. The Antarctic Treaty System and its instruments, in particular the Convention for the Conservation of Antarctic Marine Living Resources and the Environmental Protocol, provide a framework within which management of human activities take place. In the face of the continuing expansion of human activities in Antarctica, a more effective implementation of a wide range of measures is essential, in order to ensure comprehensive protection of the Antarctic environment, including its intrinsic, wilderness and scientific values which remains a fundamental principle of the Antarctic Treaty System. These measures include effective environmental impact assessments, long-term monitoring, mitigation measures for non-indigenous species, ecosystem-based management of living resources, and increased regulation of National Antarctic Programmes and tourism activities.

The Antarctic Committee for Environmental Protection: past, present, and future

Polar Record ◽  
2007 ◽  
Vol 43 (3) ◽  
pp. 239-246 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rodolfo Andrés Sánchez ◽  
Ewan McIvor
Keyword(s):  
Environmental Protection ◽  
Detailed Analysis ◽  
Environmental Issues ◽  
Future Scenarios ◽  
New Era ◽  
Challenges And Opportunities ◽  
Antarctic Treaty ◽  
The Antarctic ◽  
Antarctic Environment

ABSTRACTThe Committee for Environmental Protection (CEP) was established under the Protocol on Environmental Protection to the Antarctic Treaty to advise the Antarctic Treaty Consultative Meeting (ATCM) on matters relating to protection of the Antarctic environment. After almost a decade of work, the committee has consolidated itself as a highly relevant and important component of the Antarctic Treaty system. Through a detailed analysis of meeting reports, as well as first-hand information and experience, this study describes the activities of the CEP during its first nine years of operation, provides likely explanations for some trends observed and proposes future scenarios by highlighting major challenges and opportunities. In particular, the instigation of strategic planning shows potential for launching a new era of CEP activities focused on the environmental issues requiring the greatest attention. This overview will assist readers to understand the role of the CEP as the main environmental advisor to the ATCM, and the reasons for the Antarctic Treaty parties to support the Committee's work to foster a spirit of cooperation as a prerequisite for continuing protection of the Antarctic environment.

An international hierarchy of science: conquest, cooperation, and the 1959 Antarctic Treaty System

2021 ◽  
pp. 135406612110338
Author(s):  
Joanne Yao
Keyword(s):  
International Relations ◽  
20Th Century ◽  
International Institutions ◽  
Social Performance ◽  
Early 20Th Century ◽  
Antarctic Treaty ◽  
The Antarctic ◽  
International Status ◽  
Antarctic Treaty System

The Antarctic Treaty System (ATS), created in 1959 to govern the southern continent, is often lauded as an illustration of science’s potential to inspire peaceful and rational International Relations. This article critically examines this optimistic view of science’s role in international politics by focusing on how science as a global hierarchical structure operated as a gatekeeper to an exclusive Antarctic club. I argue that in the early 20th century, the conduct of science in Antarctica was entwined with global and imperial hierarchies. As what Mattern and Zarakol call a broad hierarchy, science worked both as a civilized marker of international status as well as a social performance that legitimated actors’ imperial interests in Antarctica. The 1959 ATS relied on science as an existing broad hierarchy to enable competing states to achieve a functional bargain and ‘freeze’ sovereignty claims, whilst at the same time institutionalizing and reinforcing the legitimacy of science in maintaining international inequalities. In making this argument, I stress the role of formal international institutions in bridging our analysis of broad and functional hierarchies while also highlighting the importance of scientific hierarchies in constituting the current international order.

Twenty years on: the UN and the ‘Question of Antarctica,’ 1983–2003

Polar Record ◽  
2004 ◽  
Vol 40 (3) ◽  
pp. 205-212 ◽  
Author(s):  
Peter J. Beck
Keyword(s):  
United Nations ◽  
International Community ◽  
Consensus Approach ◽  
Annual Basis ◽  
Antarctic Treaty ◽  
The United Nations ◽  
The Antarctic ◽  
Malaysian Government ◽  
Antarctic Treaty System

The United Nations (UN) has now been involved with the ‘Question of Antarctica’ for 20 years. Divisions within the international community about the most appropriate form of management for Antarctica, which was presented to the UN as a region of global importance, have never completely disappeared, even if the restoration of a consensus approach during the mid-1990s was based upon a broader appreciation of the merits of the Antarctic Treaty System. Both Antarctic Treaty Consultative Parties and non-Consultative Parties, pointing to the regime's enduring intrinsic qualities, have adopted an unyielding attitude towards Treaty outsiders advocating a more democratic, accountable, and transparent regime. Even so, the critical lobby, led by Dr Mahathir's Malaysian government, has never gone away. Initially, the ‘Question of Antarctica’ was discussed at the UN on an annual basis, but since 1996 it has been placed on a triennial reference. Following the most recent session in late 2002, the topic is scheduled to be placed on the UN's agenda again in 2005. This article reviews critically the key themes characterising the UN's involvement in the ‘Question of Antarctica’ since 1983, while using successive Polar Record articles on individual UN sessions to provide a framework of reference and an informed basis for further research on the topic.

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