High latitude diplomacy: Australia's Antarctic extended continental shelf

Abstract

One day inside its 10-year deadline, Australia made a submission to the Commission on the Limits of the Continental Shelf (CLCS) delimiting the outer limits of the continental shelf beyond 200 nautical miles (nm) from the baselines (the ‘‘extended continental shelf’’). In the Executive Summary of its submission, the Australian government emphasized its support for the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea (LOSC3) and the institutions (including the CLCS) established by that Convention. It explained that it was submitting its claim to an extended continental shelf in accordance with Article 76 of LOSC using a variety of formulae. The submission referred to data supporting an extended continental shelf in 10 discrete regions, including three for which delimitation agreements with other States have not yet been concluded. One of these regions is the Australian Antarctic Territory (AAT). A 2001 Marine Policy article by this author suggested that Australia would include the AAT in its CLCS submission, despite the territory being the subject of unproven sovereignty. The article described the legal, political and technical issues surrounding Australia’s position as it was in 2000. In April 2005 the CLCS will consider Australia’s submission, including a legally and politically significant caveat concerning the Antarctic component.