Implementing The Environmental Protection Regime For The Antarctic

When the Protocol on Environmental Protection to the Antarctic Treaty entered into force on 14 January 1998, a new phase commenced for the Antarctic Treaty System. The parties to the Protocol are today confronting issues related to the implementation of a complex international environmental protection regime, both in international and domestic contexts. Several crucial implementation questions need to be solved in order to enhance and make possible the implementation of the Protocol. What would be the consequences for the parties of a possible failure in resolving the pending implementation issues, on what premises can the solutions be based, and what, then, are the options available? This book provides a systematic overview of the implementation issues in sections on jurisdiction, control and enforcement in the Antarctic (Part I), institutional support to the implementation of the Protocol (Part II), normative support to the implementation of the Protocol: an Antarctic liability regime (Part III), relationship with other international instruments and arrangements (Part IV), and, through a series of selected case-studies, issues involved in domestic implementation of the Protocol (Part V). This is a book that will appeal to Antarctic specialists and to all those interested in environmental law and policy.

A major step towards the comprehensive protection of the Antarctic environment is the adoption of the Protocol on Environmental Protection to the Antarctic Treaty in 1991. The Protocol entered into force in January 1998 and provides a comprehensive system of obligations and prohibitions addressing most types of activities in the region south of 60 degrees south latitude. However, because of the absence of undisputed sovereignty in Antarctica, the legal protection of the Antarctic environment depends on the collective efforts of the Contracting Parties to the Protocol. Have the Contracting Parties adequately incorporated the key provisions of the Protocol into their domestic legal systems? Will the complex of domestic legal systems of the Contracting Parties adequately ensure a 'comprehensive protection' of the 'natural reserve' of Antarctica, as specified by Article 2 of the Protocol? These questions are the subject of this book.

While environmental protection has been a focus of decision-making under the Antarctic Treaty, the rules adopted did not engender an effective protection regime. This book examines the international politics of environmental protection in the Antarctic. It analyses recent events, including the demise of the Antarctic Minerals Convention and the negotiation of the Madrid Protocol which hold out the hope of much improved protection of the fragile Antarctic environment. This study also considers what political lessons the Antarctic experience might have for broader concerns in international environmental relations.

With the negotiation of the International Protocol on Environmental Protection in 1991, those nations conducting scientific research programs in Antarctica face new challenges for stewardship of the southern continent and protection of its environment. Science and Stewardship in the Antarctic examines how the implementation of the 1991 agreement in the United States can be done in such a way to ensure the compatibility of scientific and environmental protection goals in this global laboratory. The book also addresses the potential for the new requirements both to benefit and harm research activities in Antarctica.

Since its inception almost 50 years ago, the Antarctic Treaty System has evolved to provide a stable and remarkably effective regime for management of the coldest, driest, and windiest continent on earth. New challenges to this legal regime are now posed by contemporary problems such as climate change, tourism, fishing, and whaling in the Southern Ocean. From State Parties to the web of treaties that make up the Antarctic system of governance, the 21st century brings new demands for environmental protection while ensuring reasonable access for scientists and tourists alike. The papers in this collection were presented at a conference organized by the British Institute of International and Comparative Law and the UK's Foreign and Commonwealth Office to coincide with the Twenty-Ninth meeting of the Antarctic Treaty Consultative Parties held in Edinburgh in June 2006. The authors, experienced Antarctic 'watchers, ' discuss their views on: illegal, unreported, and unregulated fishing; vessel-based pollution; navigation through ice-covered waters; Antarctic Treaty Secretariat; liability of operators and their States for environmental damage; and tourism. Included with these scholarly papers are all the international agreements that make up the Antarctic Treaty System along with the measures, decisions, and resolutions of the Twenty-Ninth Consultative Party Meeting and the Edinburgh Declaration supporting the scientific research of the forthcoming International Polar Year starting in March 2007