The 6th continent: Antarctica
The continent
Antarctica is the coldest, driest and stormiest of all continents. It is almost forty times as large as Germany and is the only uninhabited continent. Even in summer (from December to February) 99% of Antarctica is covered in ice, up to 5000 metres thick in places. It is regarded as a "natural archive" for Earth's natural history and has a major impact on the global climate, as well as on the marine ecosystems connected with the South Polar Sea. Numerous states use it as an "open-air scientific laboratory" which, among other things, led to the discovery of the hole in the ozone layer.
The Antarctic Treaty system
Antarctica is an area not under national sovereignty but rather subject to an international treaty system which regulates international relations on this continent and its use by the international community. The system's foundation-stone is the Antarctic Treaty of 1959. Some 47 states have now acceded to the Treaty, including Germany in 1974. The Antarctic Treaty applies to the area south of 60 degrees South Latitude. It permits use of Antarctica solely for peaceful purposes and expressly prohibits all measures of a military nature. Its aim is to guarantee the freedom of scientific investigation and research and to promote international cooperation to this end. It prohibits nuclear tests and the disposal of radioactive waste in Antarctica. The sovereignty claims asserted by seven member states (Argentina, Australia, Chile, France, New Zealand, Norway and the United Kingdom) to parts of Antarctica are expressly left open by the Treaty and are "frozen" for the duration of the Treaty's application (cf. Article IV of the Antarctic Treaty). Germany has not asserted any territorial claims.
With a view to protecting the Antarctic environment comprehensively, the Protocol of Environmental Protection to the Antarctic Treaty and its five Annexes currently in force were drawn up in 1991 and entered into effect for Germany, together with the German Implementing Act, in 1998.
A sixth Annex, containing rules on liability arising from environmental emergencies, was adopted in 2005 at the Antarctic Treaty Consultative Meeting (ATCM) in Stockholm. This Annex will not come into effect until all Antarctic Treaty Consultative Parties have implemented it under their national laws, a process which is likely to take several years.
The Antarctic Treaty system also comprises the Convention for the Conservation of Antarctic Seals (CCAS) of 1972 and the Convention on the Conservation of Antarctic Marine Living Resources (CCAMLR) of 1980.
Consultative Meetings
The steering body of the Antarctic Treaty system is the annual Antarctic Treaty Consultative Meeting (ATCM) of States Parties with consultative status, i.e. with the right to vote under Article IX of the Antarctic Treaty. States Parties can only receive consultative status if they demonstrate a special interest in Antarctica by conducting substantial scientific research activities. At present 28 of the 47 member states, including Germany, have this status. As a rule, the consensus principle applies at the Consultative Meetings, i.e. decisions can only be made if all members with the right to vote agree. The Federal Foreign Office puts forward German positions in close coordination and cooperation with other Federal ministries. The Consultative Meetings take place each year in a different State Party. Germany was the host of the XVIth ATCM held in Bonn in 1991. At the XXVIth ATCM held in Madrid from 9 to 20 June 2003, among other things, the prerequisites under international law for the establishment of a permanent Antarctic secretariat were created to give the Antarctic Treaty system a permanent structure, particularly between the annual Consultative Meetings. The Secretariat's first Executive Secretary was elected in 2004 at the XXVIIth ATCM in Cape Town. The Secretariat officially took up its work in Buenos Aires in September 2004. The Secretariat is currently still of an interim nature, since all Consultative Parties must implement the founding documents under their national laws before they can enter into force, a process which can take several years. The interim Secretariat, for the time being, is financed by voluntary contributions, in which Germany also participates substantially. During the XXXIInd ATCM in 2009 in Baltimore, which also marked the Antarctic Treaty's 50th anniversary, the German scientist Dr Manfred Reinke was elected as the new Executive Secretary of the Antarctic Secretariat for the period from August 2009 to August 2013. The next ATCM is scheduled to take place in Punta del Este, Uruguay, in 2010.
Key issues which the Consultative Meetings have looked at so far include the implementation of the Protocol of Environmental Protection, international scientific cooperation, as well as Antarctic tourism. In addition to this, the Consultative Parties have elaborated a supplementary sixth Annex to the Protocol of Environmental Protection on liability arising from environmental emergencies.
In the Consultative Meetings which have been held since 1961, more than 250 measures have now been adopted, the majority of which concern protection of the Antarctic environment.
Activities in Antarctica
Scientific research is a major activity in Antarctica. In the research stations manned all year round, which currently number more than 40, scientists work, in many cases in international cooperation, on a wide variety of projects ranging from routine surveying to basic research. German research is coordinated by the Alfred Wegener Institute for Polar and Marine Research (AWI). It makes available the necessary equipment and logistics and also maintains the Neumeyer III Station, which was opened in February 2009 and is in operation all year, and the research ship "Polarstern". In addition to the traditional research fields, such as geology, geophysics, biology, meteorology, more and more climate change issues are coming to the fore. For example, the natural climate change during the last 500,000 years is being investigated with ice core drillings within the framework of a European project. It is hoped that this will provide answers regarding the impact of pollution caused by man on the current climate changes, as well as a basis for forecasts on future developments. Measurements of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere are also being carried out, as well as of the depletion of the ozone layer above Antarctica. These research programmes highlight the vital importance of this continent for the global climate.
Another use of Antarctica are tourist trips. These are mainly excursions by small groups from cruise liners, but tourism (1990/1: 1055 tourists; 1995/6: 9212; 2003/4: 19,772; 2008/09: around 40,000 tourists – not counting overflights; the numbers continue to grow steadily) is having an ever greater impact on the work of the research stations and on the Antarctic environment. Tourism in Antarctica is therefore a main focus of the ATCM.
In order to protect the environment and research, the Protocol of Environmental Protection requires tourist operators to have every trip authorized by the competent national authority (in Germany the Federal Environmental Agency). The Consultative Parties have drawn up a report form which tour operators should use to submit important information on their visit to Antarctica to the competent national authority after the visit. At the 1994 Consultative Meeting in Kyoto, the Consultative Parties decided that Antarctic tourists and tour operators should be issued with a set of strict rules on conduct and measures ("guidelines") aimed at the greatest possible protection of animals, the environment and scientific research in Antarctica. These "Visitor Guidelines" were extended to include other areas of the Antarctic at the Edinburgh ATCM in 2006.
Protection of Antarctica
Protecting Antarctica and its sensitive ecosystems from environmental damage is of ever greater importance to the Consultative Parties, not least because of the impact of such damage on the world climate. The possible effects of mining on the Antarctic environment had been the centre of attention for many years. The Antarctic Minerals Convention (CRAMRA) of 1988, which was intended to permit the extraction of minerals under very strict environmental provisions, did not enter into force as it could not be ratified. Instead, the commercial mining of mineral resources was banned completely by the Protocol of Environmental Protection of 1991. This Protocol and the five Annexes currently in force encompass material and procedural regulations on environmentally sound conduct on the sixth continent, including an obligation to obtain authorization for any activity of any significance in Antarctica (e.g. research expeditions, tourist trips) and environmental impact assessments. The sixth Annex on "Liability arising from Environmental Emergencies", which was adopted in 2005 but which has yet to come into effect, is the first international liability regulation for environmental damage in the Antarctic and a major step towards a comprehensive liability regime aimed at protecting the Antarctic environment and related ecosystems. German projects in Antarctica must therefore be authorized by the Federal Environmental Agency (Section 3 of the Act Implementing the Protocol of Environmental Protection).
The CCAMLR Convention of 1980 (Convention on the Conservation of Antarctic Marine Living Resources) plays an important role in the protection of the Antarctic ecosystem. The CCAMLR Commission, based in Hobart, Australia, was established in order to implement and monitor the Convention. It lays down fishing quotas in Antarctic waters and monitors compliance. Illegal, unregulated and unreported (IUU) fishing poses a growing threat to the sensitive ecological balance in Antarctica, jeopardizing not only fishing stocks but also sea birds and seals. Time and again, ships are caught fishing illegally and brought in by the states bordering on Antarctica, and their catch is confiscated. However, it is very difficult in the inhospitable and vast Antarctic waters to implement the provisions of the CCAMLR Convention effectively and to combat IUU fishing.
The Antarctic issue in the United Nations General Assembly
The Antarctic issue has been on the UN agenda since 1983. An initiative by Malaysia aimed at bringing the Antarctic Treaty system under the control of the UN and declaring Antarctica the "common heritage of mankind" was unsuccessful due to opposition from Antarctic Treaty states. They point out that every UN member state is free to accede to the Antarctic Treaty and that this system has proved to be efficient. The 49th General Assembly in 1994 distanced itself again from the resolutions aimed at bringing the Antarctic Treaty system under UN control.
Last updated 30.06.2009
