Antarctic Treaty Consultative Meeting Research Articles

SCAR BULLETIN No 151, October 2003

Twenty-fifth Antarctic Treaty Consultative Meeting Warsaw, Poland, 10–20 September 2002Management Plan for Antarctic Specially Protected Area No. 130 TRAMWAY RIDGE, MT. EREBUS, ROSS ISLAND

Twenty-fifth Antarctic Treaty Consultative Meeting Warsaw, Poland, 10–20 September 2002

The Twenty-fifth Antarctic Treaty Consultative Meeting (XXV ATCM) adopted four Decisions, three Resolutions and one Measure. The texts of the Decisions, together with two appendices, and the Resolutions are reproduced here. The text of the Measure is also reproduced here but, due to limitations for space, the Annexes have been abbreviated and only the essential information has been given here. In addition, it has not been possible to give all the Annexes, even in abbreviated form, and those remaining will be published in a later Bulletin.

Measures, Decisions and Resolutions Adopted at the XXIV Antarctic Treaty Consultative Meeting, St Petersburg, Russian Federation, 9–20 July 2001

An abstract is not available for this content so a preview has been provided. Please use the Get access link above for information on how to access this content.

Measures, Decisions and Resolutions adopted at the XII Special Antarctic Treaty Consultative Meeting, The Hague, The Netherlands, 11–15 September 2000

Measures, Decisions and Resolutions adopted at the XII Special Antarctic Treaty Consultative Meeting, The Hague, The Netherlands, 11–15 September 2000

Measures, Decisions and Resolutions adopted at the XII Special Antarctic Treaty Consultative Meeting, The Hague, The Netherlands, 11–15 September 2000

An abstract is not available for this content so a preview has been provided. Please use the Get access link above for information on how to access this content.

Selecting Antarctic Specially Protected Areas: Important Bird Areas can help

A key element in Antarctic conservation over the past forty years has been area protection. In pursuit of this and the protection of continuing scientific investigations 59 protected areas have so far been agreed by the Antarctic Treaty Consultative Meetings. Although both flora and fauna have been protected under this regime there has only been the habitat matrix devised by SCAR as a guide to selection of areas. What could we do to improve the process of identification and selection?

Measures, Decisions and Resolutions adopted at the XXIIIrd Antarctic Treaty Consultative Meeting, Lima, Peru, 24 May–4 June 1999

Measures, Decisions and Resolutions adopted at the XXIIIrd Antarctic Treaty Consultative Meeting, Lima, Peru, 24 May–4 June 1999

Decisions, Resolutions, and Measures adopted at the XXIIIrd Antarctic Treaty Consultative Meeting, Lima, Peru, 24 May–4 June 1999

Decisions, Resolutions, and Measures adopted at the XXIIIrd Antarctic Treaty Consultative Meeting, Lima, Peru, 24 May–4 June 1999

Implementing the Protocol on Environmental Protection to the Antarctic Treaty: Future applications of geographic information systems within the Committee for Environmental Protection

With the entry into force of the Protocol on Environmental Protection to the Antarctic Treaty (the Protocol) in January 1998, key operational aspects of the newly established Committee for Environmental Protection (CEP), such as its advisory capacity to Antarctic Treaty Consultative Meetings (ATCMs) need to be urgently addressed. This paper advocates the use of a geographic information system (GIS) environmental database to reinforce the advisory capacity of the CEP. The demonstrated links between the provisions of the Protocol and GIS capabilities illustrate the potential this has to assist the CEP in delivering informed advice to ATCMs. The range of GIS applications that could be utilized by the CEP in fulfilling its functions are examined by reference to precedents in Europe (CORINE) and Australia (ARIS).

XXIInd Antarctic Treaty Consultative Meeting Tromsø Norway, 25 May-5 June 1998

An abstract is not available for this content so a preview has been provided. Please use the Get access link above for information on how to access this content.

Decisions, Resolutions and Measures adopted at the XXIInd Antarctic Treaty Consultative Meeting, Tromsø, Norway, 25 May – 5 June 1998

An abstract is not available for this content so a preview has been provided. Please use the Get access link above for information on how to access this content.

Measures, Decisions and Resolutions adopted at the XXIst Antarctic Treaty Consultative Meeting Christchurch, New Zealand, 19–30 May 1997

Measures, Decisions and Resolutions adopted at the XXIst Antarctic Treaty Consultative Meeting Christchurch, New Zealand, 19–30 May 1997

The United Nations and Antarctica, 1996: maintaining consensus towards the millennium

AbstractThe thirteenth UN session on the ‘Question of Antarctica,’ held at the close of 1996, saw the reaffirmation of the consensus approach restored in 1994. One brief session of the First Committee, followed by the General Assembly's adoption of resolution A51/56 without a vote, signified the continued acceptance by UN members, including Antarctic Treaty Parties (ATPs), of the benefits of an agreed approach towards the ‘Question of Antarctica.’ Resolution A51/56, acknowledging the broader international community's interest in the continent, marked the ATPs' willingness to allow a limited UN role in Antarctica. UN members, identifying the merits of further research on environmental and scientific questions, pressed the case for a comprehensive report on the state of the Antarctic environment, as discussed at recent Antarctic Treaty Consultative Meetings. The ‘Question of Antarctica,’ having moved from annual to biennial UN discussions in 1994, has now been put on a three-year cycle; thus, it will not be placed on the UN agenda again until the close of 1999.

Measures, Decisions and Resolutions adopted at the XXIst Antarctic Treaty Consultative Meeting Christchurch, New Zealand, 19–30 May 1997

Measures, Decisions and Resolutions adopted at the XXIst Antarctic Treaty Consultative Meeting Christchurch, New Zealand, 19–30 May 1997

Resolutions and Measures adopted at the XXth Antarctic Treaty Consultative Meeting Utrecht, The Netherlands, 29 April – 10 May 1996

Resolutions and Measures adopted at the XXth Antarctic Treaty Consultative Meeting Utrecht, The Netherlands, 29 April – 10 May 1996

Decisions, Measures, and Resolutions adopted at the XIXth Antarctic Treaty Consultative Meeting Seoul, Korea, 8–19 May 1995

Decisions, Measures, and Resolutions adopted at the XIXth Antarctic Treaty Consultative Meeting Seoul, Korea, 8–19 May 1995

Recommendation adopted by the XVIIIth Antarctic Treaty Consultative Meeting 11–22 April 1994, Kyoto, Japan

Recommendation adopted by the XVIIIth Antarctic Treaty Consultative Meeting 11–22 April 1994, Kyoto, Japan

Acquisition of consultative status under the Antarctic Treaty

AbstractUnder the regime established by the Antarctic Treaty of 1959, decision-making remains exclusively with the limited number of states that are entitled to appoint representatives to participate in Antarctic Treaty Consultative Meetings. Whereas the 12 original signatory states have a permanent right to attend these meetings, acceding states may gain consultative status only during the time they carry out substantial scientific research in the Antarctic. This paper addresses three issues: the first relates to the problems arising out of the ‘admission procedure’ adopted by the original signatory states when faced with the first application of an acceding state to become an Antarctic Treaty Consultative Party, a procedure that has been applied ever since to similar cases. The second looks at the forms of scientific research activities an acceding party ought to conduct in Antarctica in order to meet the requirements laid down in the Antarctic Treaty. The third deals more generally with the issue of limited participation in the Antarctic Treaty decision-making process, which has come under severe criticism from non-Consultative Parties and states that have not acceded to the Treaty.

The United Nations and Antarctica, 1992: still searching for that elusive convergence of view

ABSTRACTThe tenth successive annual UN session on the ‘Question of Antarctica’ took place at the close of 1992. The UN First Committee considered the topic during the week following the close of the Seventeenth Antarctic Treaty Consultative Meeting held at Venice. The passage of yet another resolution critical of the Antarctic Treaty System (ATS) suggested that little had changed as compared to previous sessions. However, during 1992, UN reports and discussions displayed evidence of a growing acknowledgement of a range of ‘positive’ developments on the part of the ATS, most notably the benefits accruing from the Protocol on Environmental Protection's designation of Antarctica as ‘a natural reserve, devoted to peace and science’ in which mining is prohibited. Significantly, both critics and the German spokesman for the Antarctic Treaty parties (ATPs) — individual ATPs still refused to participate in either the UN discussions or vote because of their belief that the UN has no meaningful role to play in the affairs of a region subject to a valid international legal regime—expressed satisfaction with the concerted approach towards Antarctica embodied in Agenda 21 of the UN Conference on Environment and Development (UNCED), which met at Rio de Janeiro in June 1992. As a result, ATPs agreed to ensure that research products were freely available to the international community. In December 1992 the adoption of UN resolution A47/57 reaffirmed the continuing divide between ATPs and other members of the international community regarding the management of Antarctica, even if the UNCED–type formula offers one route back to consensus when the UN takes up the topic again at the close of 1993.

The 1991 UN session: the environmental protocol fails to satisfy the Antarctic Treaty System's critics

ABSTRACT1991 saw the ninth successive United Nations (UN) discussion on the ‘Question of Antarctica.’ The adoption of two more resolutions critical of the Antarctic Treaty System (ATS), including South African participation therein, reaffirmed the unchanging nature of the UN episode and the lack of consensus on the management of Antarctica. Key developments affecting Antarctica continue to occur away from New York: during 1990—91 the negotiations conducted at Vifia del Mar and Madrid for the Protocol on Environmental Protection to the Antarctic Treaty (PREP) and the measures agreed at the Bonn Antarctic Treaty Consultative Meeting proved the point. The critics of the ATS were appeased by neither PREP and its mining prohibition nor the recent dismantling of the apartheid regime in South Africa.Two UN reports were published on the state of the Antarctic environment as well as the proposed establishment of a UNsponsored research station in Antarctica. One resolution adopted in December 1991 called for annual UN reports on the Antarctic environment, although fiscal and other considerations meant that the research station proposal was effectively shelved. Another resolution urged South African exclusion from ATS meetings. The tenth annual UN discussion on Antarctica is scheduled for the close of 1992. There exists growing evidence that the critical campaign is losing momentum, although it seems premature to anticipate Antarctica's imminent demise as an UN agenda topic.