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International Polar Year 2007–2008 - WMO

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On the contrary, in many cases the policy objectives<br />

that governments pursue in the AC and at the ATCMs<br />

are the same (e.g. reducing conflicts of interest, creation<br />

of multi-national fora to discuss issues relevant<br />

to many nations, mitigation of, and adaptation to climate<br />

change, maritime safety and security, integrated<br />

ecosystem-based management, environmental protection,<br />

access to research sites, conservation and sustainable<br />

use of living resources, establishment of protected<br />

areas, science-based regulation of fisheries, energy efficiency<br />

etc.). A widely held view is that legitimate activities<br />

in the Arctic as well as in the Antarctic should meet<br />

the highest environmental and safety standards. They<br />

should take into account the specific conditions that<br />

are unique to the polar regions and be based upon the<br />

fundamental scientific knowledge generated through<br />

sound and multi-disciplinary research. This is where<br />

yet another line of similarities comes to mind between<br />

ATCM working with its scientific arm, SCAR, and AC, for<br />

which IASC plays similar role (see above).<br />

There are many examples of ATCM deliberations<br />

being informed by discussions on similar issues in the<br />

AC context, and vice versa, which is quite natural since<br />

seven of the eight AC member states and all the AC<br />

observer states are Parties to the Antarctic Treaty.<br />

Several issues that are addressed by the intergovernmental<br />

community at the global level are also of specific<br />

concern in the polar regions. In such cases, deliberations<br />

in the AC and/or at the ATCM can inform and<br />

facilitate discussions in other forums. One example is<br />

international shipping, where regulations need to be<br />

adopted by the <strong>International</strong> Maritime Organization,<br />

IMO, in order to be binding on all flag states. The AC has<br />

endorsed a set of detailed recommendations in its 2009<br />

“Arctic Marine Shipping Assessment”. The ATCM has adopted<br />

a number of measures on many of the same issues.<br />

Negotiations are now ongoing under the auspices<br />

of the IMO on a binding “<strong>Polar</strong> Code” that seems to enjoy<br />

very wide support.<br />

A different approach is required for biological prospecting.<br />

Biological material in the Arctic falls under national<br />

law and the UN Convention on Biological Diversity.<br />

Specific rules are needed for areas outside national<br />

jurisdiction and are currently under deliberation in the<br />

UN General Assembly. In that situation, it is up to the<br />

ATCM to take corresponding action in order to protect<br />

Antarctic biodiversity from excessive exploitation.<br />

New Forms of AC-ATCM Collaboration<br />

The first formal cooperative activity involving the<br />

member states of the AC together with the Antarctic<br />

Treaty Consultative Parties, ATCPs, took place in the<br />

margins of the 32nd ATCM in Baltimore 2009, when<br />

representatives of the AC and the ATCPs were invited<br />

at ministerial level for their first ever Joint Meeting,<br />

in Washington DC on 6 April to mark the 50th anniversary<br />

of the Antarctic Treaty and the successful<br />

conclusion of IPY <strong>2007–2008</strong>. The Joint Meeting was<br />

Co-Chaired by Hillary Rodham Clinton, U.S. Secretary<br />

of State, for the U.S. chairmanship of the ATCM, and<br />

Jonas Gahr Störe, Norwegian Minister of Foreign Affairs,<br />

then chairman of the AC. The Declaration was<br />

adopted at that meeting (Box 1).<br />

The AC Ministerial Meeting in Tromsø in late April<br />

2009 welcomed “the Washington Ministerial Declaration<br />

highlighting IPY <strong>2007–2008</strong>, an internationally<br />

coordinated scientific research and observation campaign<br />

in polar regions, which, for the first time, considered<br />

the human dimension and concerns of local and<br />

indigenous peoples and engaged Arctic residents”.<br />

Other Forms of Cooperation<br />

A workshop on “The Legacy of the <strong>International</strong> <strong>Polar</strong><br />

<strong>Year</strong>”, coordinated by the Norwegian <strong>Polar</strong> Institute<br />

and supported by the AC and the ATCM, took place in<br />

Oslo in June 2010 in conjunction with the IPY Science<br />

Conference.<br />

In 2005, stimulated by the attention accorded to<br />

the ACIA report, SCAR began developing a southern<br />

hemisphere equivalent, which resulted in the report<br />

Fig.5.5-7. Website for<br />

the 50th Antarctic<br />

Treaty Summit<br />

meeting, Washington,<br />

DC, 30 November – 3<br />

December, 2009,<br />

www.atsummit50.aq.<br />

l e g a C I e s 605

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