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Antarctica: the Treaty System and Territorial Claims

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Antarctica: the Treaty System and Territorial Claims Antarctica: the treaty system and territorial claims Standard Note: SN/IA/5040 Last updated: 18 July 2012 Author: Arabella Thorp Section International Affairs and Defence Section The unique treaty system that protects the Antarctic is constantly updated and sometimes challenged. A current Private Member’s Bill would implement recent changes in the UK. The UK is one of seven states with territorial claims in the Antarctic. The 1959 Antarctic Treaty froze all territorial disputes relating to the continent in order to further peaceful scientific investigation and conservation there, and its 1991 Protocol introduced stringent measures on environmental protection including a 50-year moratorium on mineral extraction. A new annex to this Protocol was agreed in 2005 which requires visitors to Antarctica to be prepared for an environmental emergency or pay for the clean-up of any damage: the Antarctic Bill 2012-13 would allow the UK to implement this and make some other minor changes. The relationship between the Antarctic Treaty System and the 1982 UN Convention on the Law of the Sea – which includes the right to exploit the continental shelf up to 350 nautical miles from shore – is far from clear. Australia and Argentina are the only countries so far to have submitted a claim to a portion of the Antarctic’s extended continental shelf. The UK has only reserved the right to do so in future. This information is provided to Members of Parliament in support of their parliamentary duties and is not intended to address the specific circumstances of any particular individual. It should not be relied upon as being up to date; the law or policies may have changed since it was last updated; and it should not be relied upon as legal or professional advice or as a substitute for it. A suitably qualified professional should be consulted if specific advice or information is required. This information is provided subject to our general terms and conditions which are available online or may be provided on request in hard copy. Authors are available to discuss the content of this briefing with Members and their staff, but not with the general public. Contents 1 Introduction 3 2 British presence 4 3 Antarctic Treaty System 5 3.1 The 1959 Antarctic Treaty 5 Competing territorial claims 5 Establishing research stations 5 Purpose of the Treaty 5 Parties to the Treaty 6 Significance of the Treaty 7 3.2 Other agreements and protocols 8 Introduction 8 Five international agreements 8 Mineral development: CRAMRA and the 1991 Protocol 9 1991 Protocol on Environmental Protection 9 UK ratification of the 1991 Protocol and the Liability Annex 10 4 Law of the Sea and claims to the continental shelf 11 4.1 Introduction 11 4.2 1982 UN Convention on the Law of the Sea 11 4.3 Extended continental shelf claims 13 4.4 Claims in the Antarctic 13 2 1 Introduction Antarctica, over 50 times the size of the UK, and bigger than China and India combined, is the largest wilderness on Earth. The continent and its surrounding seas cover one tenth of the globe, and the Antarctic ice-sheet makes up nine tenths of the world’s ice. Its size means that what happens there has enormous effects on the world’s weather and ocean systems, and its relatively pristine environment gives it unique importance to scientific research. This has given rise to a unique system of legal and environmental protection. [Source: CIA World Factbook] 3 Seven countries – beginning with the UK in 1908 and including Argentina, Australia, Chile, France, New Zealand and Norway – have made territorial claims to the Antarctic. These claims have a variety of grounds, and most are “of rather dubious quality”.1 Several overlap, as the map above shows. The Antarctic Treaty (see below) puts these claims on hold. Antarctica’s importance is not only scientific and ecological but also potentially commercial. Antarctica is known to have mineral deposits, though any sizeable deposits that are easy to reach are few and not currently economically viable to mine (one of the main problems is the vast covering of moving ice streams and glaciers). The US Geological Survey did not include Antarctica or the surrounding waters in its 2000 World Petroleum Assessment, but some other estimates of Antarctic oil and gas resources have been made. In 2000 the US Environmental Information Administration stated that Antarctica’s Ross and Weddell Seas are thought to have resources of up to 50 billion barrels of oil, an amount roughly equivalent to that of Alaska's estimated reserves.2 The Weddell Sea is largely in the area claimed by the UK. 2 British presence The UK’s Antarctic claim rests on a number of discoveries and claims by British explorers. These include Captain Cook’s 1775 ‘rediscovery’ of South Georgia and his claiming of the island in the name of King George III, and his discovery the same month of the South Sandwich Island group. The first siting of the Antarctic coast is credited to Edward Bransfield, a Royal Navy officer, in 1820.3 The FCO country profile of Antarctica provides the following information on the UK’s territorial claims in Antarctica and the British Antarctic Survey: The United Kingdom made the first territorial claim to part of Antarctica in 1908, by Letters Patent. It has maintained a permanent presence in the British Antarctic Territory [BAT] since 1943, when Operation Tabarin was established to provide reconnaissance and meteorological information in the South Atlantic Ocean. This ‘secret’ wartime project, which became the civilian Falkland Islands Dependencies Survey in 1945, became in 1962 the British Antarctic Survey (BAS). The BAS is responsible for most of Britain’s scientific research in Antarctica. It maintains active links with scientists world wide and is involved in international programmes devised through the Scientific Committee on Antarctic Research (SCAR). SCAR provides independent technical and scientific advice to the Treaty System’s Consultative meetings. Its permanent Secretariat is based at the Scott Polar Research Institute (SPRI) in Cambridge. […] The BAT comprises that sector of the Antarctic south of latitude 60 degrees South, between longitudes 20 degrees West and 80 degrees West. It is located in the coldest, driest and windiest continent in the world. The average annual temperature at the South Pole is minus 49 degrees Celsius. Only 0.7% of the BAT’s surface is ice-free. The remainder is covered by a permanent ice sheet of up to 5 kilometres thick. The highest mountain in the BAT, Mount Jackson, is 3,184 metres high. […] 1 Malcolm N. Shaw, International Law, 5th edition, 2003, p456 2 US Energy Information Administration, Antarctica: Fact sheet, September 2000 3 Christopher C. Joyner, Antarctica and the law of the sea, 1992, p48 4 Originally administered as a Dependency of the Falkland Islands, the BAT became an Overseas Territory of the United Kingdom in its own right by Order in Council on 3 March 1962. It is administered by the Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) and the Commissioner for the BAT is the Head of the FCO's Overseas Territories Directorate. The BAT has a full suite of laws, and legal and postal administrations. The BAT, which covers approximately 1.82 million square kilometres (700,000 square miles) of land, has no indigenous population, but contains permanent British research bases as well as the bases of other nations. It is the largest of the British Overseas Territories, and has its own legal system and laws. The BAT issues its own postage stamps and all British research stations have their own post office. British base commanders are sworn in as magistrates and conduct official duties such as stamping visitors' passports. 3 Antarctic Treaty System 3.1 The 1959 Antarctic Treaty Competing territorial claims By the 1950s, five sixths of Antarctica had been claimed by seven countries, and most of the British claim of 1908 was overlapped by Chilean and Argentinean claims.4 Other states were also asserting rights to make their own claims. Although several states have recognised each others’ territorial ambitions in Antarctica, none of the territorial claims is recognised by non-claimant States.5 Significantly, the USA has refused to recognise any Antarctic claims, and although the American Admiral Byrd discovered and claimed Marie Byrd Land for his country, the USA refrained from adopting the claim.6 Establishing research stations At the same time, the importance of Antarctic scientific research was becoming more apparent. During the International Geophysical Year (IGY) of 1957-58, 40 research stations were installed in Antarctica by scientists from 12 countries.7 The success of research ventures and the degree of international co-operation encouraged the countries involved to seek a solution to the governance of Antarctica and establish a mechanism that would defuse escalating disputes over sovereignty. Purpose of the Treaty Twelve states (some with territorial claims, some not) therefore negotiated the Antarctic Treaty, which was signed in Washington on 1 December 1959, and entered into force in 1961. Its main purpose is to ensure “in the interest of all mankind that Antarctica shall continue for ever to be used exclusively for peaceful purposes and shall not become the scene or object of international discord”. The Treaty applies to the entire area south of 60º latitude, including ice shelves, but explicitly does not affect states’ rights under international law with regard to the high seas within that area (Article VI). 4 For a map of the various claims, see the Discovering Antarctica website. 5 Britain’s Role in Antarctica, Foreign and Commonwealth Office, February 1993, p8 6 Malcolm N. Shaw, International Law, 5th edition, 2003, p456 7 Lee Kimball, ‘Environmental law and Policy in Antarctica’, in Greening International Law, ed.
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