The Antarctic Treaty: Toward a New Partnership

Abstract

The Antarctic Treaty was adopted in 1959 to deal with a geopolitical vacuum around the southern continent that was a source of tension and conflict. It was also inspired by the success of the scientific cooperation under the International Geophysical Year, 1957–1958. The treaty created the conditions for Antarctica to become a continent for peaceful international scientific cooperation. In terms of its original purposes, the treaty has been a tremendous success. Even at times of considerable tension in regions close to Antarctica, the treaty regime of disarmament and peaceful cooperation in Antarctica has been maintained without interruption. In addition, on the basis of the treaty a legal regime for the protection of the Antarctic environment was built up, which is now enshrined in the Protocol on Environmental Protection to the Antarctic Treaty (Environment Protocol) of 1991 and its six annexes. This regime is still being developed further through the measures of the Antarctic Treaty Consultative Meeting (ATCM).1 As an active participant in the ATCM from 1997 to 2004 and then as its senior official at the head of the Antarctic Treaty Secretariat from 2004 to 2009, I am proud to have made a contribution to its work. At the same time, my experience with the ATCM has also given me concerns about its ability to meet the challenges that are facing it in the twentyfirst century. In this chapter I will argue that although the Antarctic Treaty Parties and the ATCM established a comprehensive regulatory system to manage Antarctica, they have never shown much interest in the practical questions of ensuring its implementation or even its maintenance as a clear and consistent set of regulations. To put it in another way, the regulatory regime has outstripped the capacity of the parties to implement it. Without aiming at a systematic treatment, I will discuss some reasons for this gap between theory and practice, one of which is the resistance of the parties and the ATCM to institutional development. In a time of increasing pressure on the Antarctic environment resulting from technological and economic development, the regime needs to be strengthened; I believe this could be done, however, without changing the basic features of the Antarctic Treaty System. The Antarctic Treaty: Toward a New Partnership