Environmental security in the eastern Indian Ocean, Antarctica and the Southern Ocean: a risk mapping approach (original) (raw)
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Managing the Antarctic Environment: The Evolving Role of the Committee for Environmental Protection
Science diplomacy : science, Antarctica, and the governance of international spaces, 2011
In this paper we discuss the evolution of Antarctic environmental management, seen from our perspective as the first three chairs of the Committee for Environmental Protection (CEP). This body was established under the Protocol on Environmental Protection to the Antarctic Treaty adopted by the Antarctic Treaty Consultative Parties (ATCPs) in 1991. The ATCPs have over time placed considerable emphasis on managing the Antarctic environment. The protocol followed years of developing environmental standards and practices and set out tough new rules on environmental protection. The concomitant establishment of the CEP demonstrated the high ambitions of the parties for protecting the Antarctic environment. Following the entry in to force of the protocol in 1998, the CEP needed to put in place procedures and practices to enable it to fulfil its mandate effectively and efficiently. In the 12 years that have passed since then, the context in which the CEP is undertaking its work has changed. The Antarctic environment has been subject to various pressures, including climate change, which has resulted in regional rises in temperature and loss of ice shelves; introduction of nonnative species; and rapidly increasing numbers of tourists. National program activities have also increased markedly. Air access to Antarctica has become more prevalent with many new ice runways giving access to parts of Antarctica that had previously been logistically difficult to access. The role that the CEP plays and its capacity to deal with such challenges now merits close attention. If the CEP is to continue to meet its mandate of providing timely and defensible advice to the Treaty Parties on environmental protection in the Antarctic Treaty area, it needs to address two key issues: managing a burgeoning workload and timely access to data and information.
Antarctic environmental protection: Strengthening the links between science and governance
Environmental Science & Policy, 2018
The Antarctic has significant environmental, scientific, historic, and intrinsic values, all of which are worth protecting into the future. Nevertheless, the area is subject to an increasing level and diversity of human activities that may impact these values within marine, terrestrial and cryosphere environments. Threats to the Antarctic environment, and to the aforementioned values, include climate change, pollution, habitat destruction, wildlife disturbance and non-native species introductions. Over time, a suite of legally binding international agreements, which form part of the Antarctic Treaty System (ATS), has been established to help safeguard the Antarctic environment and provide a framework for addressing the challenges arising from these threats. Foremost among these agreements are the Protocol on Environmental Protection to the Antarctic Treaty and the Convention on the Conservation of Antarctic Marine Living Resources. Many scientists working in Antarctica undertake research that is relevant to Antarctic environmental policy development. More effective two-way interaction between scientists and those responsible for policy development would further strengthen the governance framework, including by (a) better communication of policy makers' priorities and identification of related science requirements and (b) better provision by scientists of 'policy-ready' information on existing priorities, emerging issues and scientific/ technological advances relevant to environmental protection. The Scientific Committee on Antarctic Research (SCAR) has a long and successful record of summarizing policy-relevant scientific knowledge to policy makers, such as through its Group of Specialists on Environmental Affairs and Conservation (GOSEAC) up to 2002, currently the SCAR Standing Committee on the Antarctic Treaty System (SCATS) and recently through its involvement in the Antarctic Environments Portal. Improvements to science-policy communication mechanisms, combined with purposeful consideration of funding opportunities for policy-relevant science, would greatly enhance international policy development and protection of the Antarctic environment.
Antarctic Environment Protocol Challenges and Achievements: 20 Years in Force
EJIL Talks, 2018
The Protocol on Environmental Protection to the Antarctic Treaty was signed in 1991 and entered into force in 1998. Its adoption was a reaction to the environmental damage risks of the mineral activities regulated by the Convention on the Regulation of Antarctic Mineral Resource Activities (signed in 1988, not yet in force). But it is also a result of the Antarctic Treaty System long-time evolution. The Protocol is a milestone in this international regime putting the environmental protection as a central aim of it.
The Antarctic Treaty System [The Year in Review – 2012]
THE ANTARCTIC TREATY SYSTEM I. I e key Antarctic Treaty System (ATS) 1 events of 2012 were the two annual diplomatic meetings, the Antarctic Treaty Consultative Meeting (ATCM) and the Meeting of the Commission for the Conservation of Antarctic Marine Living Resources (Commission). ese diplomatic meetings include the main sessions of the advisory bodies, the Committee for Environmental Protection (CEP) and the Scienti c Committee for the Conservation of Antarctic Marine Living Resources (SC-CAMLR), established under the relevant international instruments. 2 Although reports were received from three Intersessional Contact Groups operating between the 34th and 35th ATCMs, 3 these groups operated through electronic communications and no Meeting of Experts was held in 2012. 4 Five intersessional meetings of Working Groups of SC-CAMLR were held during 2012. 5 Domestic New Zealand legislative activity included enactment of implementing legislation for Annex VI of the Madrid Protocol on Liability Arising from Environmental Emergencies. New Zealand also signed an Antarctic cooperation agreement with South Korea. New Zealand was, as usual, an actively engaged state within the fora of the ATS, participating across all focal areas. Marine activities, including particularly harvesting in the Ross Sea and the di culties evident in achieving rst a common position with the United States in relation to a Marine Protected Area there and then in seeking to build consensus around its designation (a project that has so far been unsuccessful) occupied its diplomatic attention, including that of Ministers and high o cials during 2012.
Australian Journal of International Affairs, 2006
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A Call for U.S. Ratification of the Protocol on Antarctic Environmental Protection
Ecology Law Quarterly, 1994
Introduction .................................................... 164 I. Human Impacts on Antarctica ............................ 167 A. Physical Features of Antarctica ..................... 167 B. Exploitation of Antarctic Marine Resources ......... 171 C. Antarctic Science .................................... 173 D. Antarctic Tourism ................................... 178 II. The Antarctic Treaty System .............................. 181 A. The Antarctic Treaty ................................ 182 B. Agreed Measures for the Conservation of Antarctic Flora and Fauna .............. 186 C. Convention for the Conservation of Antarctic Seals. 188
The State and Future of Antarctic Environments in a Global Context
Annual Review of Environment and Resources, 2019
Antarctica and the Southern Ocean comprise a critical part of the Earth System. Their environments are better understood than ever before, yet the region remains poorly considered among international agreements to improve the state of the global environment. In part the situation owes to isolated regional regulation within the Antarctic Treaty System, and in part to the dated notion that Antarctica and the Southern Ocean are well conserved and relatively free from human impact. Here we review growth in knowledge of Antarctic environments and anthropogenic pressures on them. We show that the region's unusual diversity is facing substantial local and globally mediated anthropogenic pressure, on a par with environments globally. Antarctic environmental management and regulation is being challenged to keep pace with the change. Much benefit can be derived from consideration of Antarctic environmental and resource management in the context of global agreements.