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Antarctic Parliamentarians Assembly 2 - 3 December 2019 Peter Geraerts Photography www.antarcticparliamentarians.com www.antarcticparliamentarians.com Antarctic Parliamentarians Assembly 2 - 3 December 2019 The All-Party Parliamentary The Assembly will highlight the importance Letter from the Chairman of Antarctica to the understanding of our Group for the Polar Regions planet, and provide an opportunity to UK All-Party Parliamentary Group for the Polar Regions welcomes you to London discuss how Parliamentarians can initiate and support international collaboration I am delighted to welcome I am also delighted to welcome a group of for the very first Antarctic to help protect this vast and fragile you all to the first ever observers from the wider polar community here environment. Parliamentarians Assembly Antarctic Parliamentarians in London. If the Parliamentary Group for the on 2 - 3 December 2019. The Antarctic Parliamentarians Assembly Assembly. The Arctic Polar Regions acts as a focus for the wider polar is organised and hosted by the All-Party Council has its parliamentary community in the UK, it will be fulfilling at least Parliamentary Group for the Polar Regions, shadow, but the parliaments part of its remit. of the signatories to Parliamentarians have been invited from the with funding from the Mamont Foundation So I wish you well in your deliberations at this the Antarctic Treaty have no formal way of 54 signatories to the Antarctic Treaty to and in-kind support from the UK Foreign Parliamentary Assembly. I hope that collectively scrutinising and supporting the work of the celebrate the 60th Anniversary of the signing & Commonwealth Office and the British we will agree on crucial Antarctic issues, and Antarctic Treaty System. of the Treaty and discuss the future of the ‘White Antarctic Survey, and advice from the that by doing so, we may have some influence Continent’. Scientific Committee on Antarctic Research. It is my fervent hope, therefore, that this will over our governments. We hope then to be able be the first of a series of bi-annual assemblies, to play our own small part in protecting the bringing together parliamentarians from around White Continent that we love so much. the globe who have a special interest in, and James Gray VENUES concern for, Antarctica. I hope that the Assembly Statement, which we will formally agree, will be a Chairman, UK All-Party Parliamentary beacon of clarity to all of those concerned about Group for the Polar Regions the great and urgent issues facing the continent, such as ensuring universal adherence to the Treaty, combating climate change, preserving biodiversity, to name a few of the topics that will be discussed over the next two days. Conference venue, SixtyOne Whitehall Dinner at Armoury House, City of London SixtyOne Whitehall (RUSI) Armoury House Royal United Services Institute, SixtyOne Honourable Artillery Company, Armoury House, Letter from Sir David Attenborough Whitehall, London, SW1A 2ET City Road, London, EC1Y 2BQ British broadcaster, naturalist and conservationist, creator of BBC TV series Planet Earth, Frozen Planet and Seven Worlds, One Planet. I am so sorry that my filming The challenges we face in Antarctica and the schedule has prevented me Southern Ocean are both alarming and urgent, ENTRANCE from attending this first ever and I call on your parliaments and governments ENTRANCE Antarctic Parliamentarians to work together within the Antarctic Treaty Assembly. It is a very System - which has celebrated its 60th worthwhile initiative and anniversary - to act decisively and collectively I hope both that your for the preservation of the continent. deliberations over the next two days will Closest train Closest tube Closest train Closest tube Closest car produce results which will help preserve and station: stations: station: stations: park: enhance the great White Continent, and that Charing Westminster or Liverpool Moorgate or NCP Finsbury this Assembly may become a regular event. Sir David Attenborough Cross Embankment Street Old Street Square (5-10 min walk) (5-10 min walk) (10-15 min walk) (5 min walk) (3-4 min walk) www.antarcticparliamentarians.com PROGRAMME Monday 2 December Tuesday 3 December 08.30 Conference registration opens 08.30 Conference opens Opening Address from James Gray, Chairman, UK All-Party Parliamentary Group Welcome - James Gray, Chairman, UK All-Party Parliamentary 09.30 - 09.40 09.30 - 09.35 for the Polar Regions Group for the Polar Regions Keynote: Celebrating 60 Years of the Antarctic Treaty System - Lord Ahmad, UK Parliamentarians’ discussion and debate on Conference Statement 09.40 - 10.10 Minister for the Polar Regions 2a. Protection of the Antarctic environment - Climate change, plastics and pollution Introduction to the Antarctic Treaty System – Jane Rumble, Head of Polar 10.10 - 10.30 09.35 - 11.00 - Marine biodiversity Regions Department, UK Foreign & Commonwealth Office - Terrestrial specially protected areas - Ratification of Annex VI to the Protocol on Environmental Protection to the MORNING SESSION: Why Antarctica Matters Antarctic Treaty Introduction: The global impact of climate change in Antarctica - Professor 11.00 - 11.30 Coffee break 10.30 - 10.40 Dame Jane Francis, Director, British Antarctic Survey, UK Parliamentarians’ discussion and debate on Conference Statement How is climate change affecting Antarctica and what does it mean for us? – 10.40 - 11.20 2b. Scientific collaboration Professor Tim Naish, Antarctic Research Centre, New Zealand 11.30 - 12.15 - Improving climate change predictions 11.20 - 12.00 Coffee break - Collection and sharing of scientific information - Sharing scientific information with decision makers How will life in the Antarctic survive a changing world? – Professor Steven 12.00 - 12.45 Chown, Monash University, Australia 12.15 - 12.30 Official Antarctic Parliamentarians Assembly photograph Lunch break 12.45 - 13.00 Final questions 12.30 - 14.00 - Working lunch for conference statement drafting committee 13.00 - 14.00 Lunch break 14.00 - 15.00 Parliamentarians’ discussion and debate on Conference Statement 2c. Human activities AFTERNOON SESSION: Challenges Facing Antarctica - Environmental Impact Assessments - Marine Protected Areas Geopolitics and Governance in Antarctica 14.00 - 14.10 - Sustainable fishing – Professor Klaus Dodds, Royal Holloway University, UK - Responsible tourism Future proofing Antarctica - can we succeed? – Birgit Njaastad, Norwegian - Improving hydrographic charting and navigation systems 14.10 - 14.50 Polar Institute, Norway 15.00 - 15.30 1. Future of the Antarctic Parliamentarians Assembly Antarctic tourism: can human presence support environmental protection? - 14.50 - 15.30 Dr Daniela Portella Sampaio, University of Leeds, UK 15.30 - 16.00 Tea break 15.30 - 16.00 Tea break 16.00 Presentation and signing of Conference Statement A Force for Good? Antarctica and the Scientific Committee on Antarctic 16.00 - 16.40 17.00 Closing remarks Research – Iqra Choudhry, University of Manchester, UK 17.30 End of conference 16.40 - 17.00 Final questions 17.30 - 19.30 Drinks reception in the Library 17.00 Afternoon session ends 17.30 Coach departs for dinner at Armoury House Wednesday 4 December 18.30 - 23.00 Evening reception and dinner at Armoury House in the City of London Delegates depart 22.00 Coach returns from Armoury House to Westminster www.antarcticparliamentarians.com SESSION ABSTRACTS Keynote: Celebrating 60 Years of the Likewise, changes in Antarctica and the Geopolitics and Governance in The recognition of the Antarctic Treaty Antarctic Treaty System surrounding Southern Ocean have worldwide Antarctica as the main forum for Antarctic governance consequences for humanity. Antarctica’s ice sheets Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon, Minister Professor Klaus Dodds has always been conditioned by the Treaty’s hold 70% of the world’s fresh water and if they capacity to address new challenges in for the Polar Regions melted would raise global sea levels by about 65m. The governance of the Antarctic has been the region. Global sea level rise is the clearest planet-wide shaped by the Antarctic Treaty, which enjoys its In the last decades, the intensification of human Introduction to the Antarctic Treaty signal of human-induced climate change. So far 60th anniversary in December 2019. Created in activities in Antarctica has required not only System sea level has risen 20cm in response to 1°C of the midst of the Cold War, this treaty provided a coordination among different governments, but Jane Rumble, Head of the Polar global warming, and the latest science predicts sea mechanism for governing the Antarctic. Science fundamentally a common vision on how the and international collaboration were central to Regions Department, UK Foreign & level could rise by as much as 1.5m by the end of Antarctic should be managed. Peace and science the century and tens of metres in the centuries this new regime. Commonwealth Office have been the utmost Antarctic values so far, but to come. This presentation will summarise the Over the next five decades, the Antarctic Treaty how can they be maintained in face of the recent An overview of the significant achievements of current state of knowledge on how Antarctica is System (ATS) expanded as new legal instruments steep growth in tourism? Can we converge the the Antarctic Treaty over the past 60 years. responding to climate change, with special focus were developed and entered into force including current interest in Antarctica with its preservation?