User:Kaihsu/EnvD8

D8: Polar regions

Antarctica is regulated with treaties as global commons despite claims of sovereignty, but the Arctic is managed mainly with soft law.

For Antarctica (south of 60°S):
 * 1988 Convention on the Regulation of Antarctic Mineral Resource Activities (CRAMRA) is unlikely to come into force
 * 1989 Basel Convention and 1997 IAEA Joint Safety Convention also apply
 * Recall Whaling in the Antarctic (Australia v Japan, NZ intervening) ICJ 2014.

Antarctic Treaty system
29 states are consultative (voting) parties and 24 nonvoting parties to the 1959 Antarctic Treaty, whose primary aim is not environmental protection but peaceful use of Antarctica. Meeting of the Consultative Parties (decision by consensus among consultative parties) set up Secretariat in Buenos Aires 2004 and has adopted:
 * 1964 Agreed Measures for the Conservation of Antarctic Flora and Fauna, designating Antarctica as a ‘special conservation area’.
 * 1972 Antarctic Seals Convention: Parties must limit the annual number of seals to be killed or captured (incl. size, age, sex): art. 2; certain species are protected. More conservation measures: open and closed seasons/areas, regulation of sealing methods and gear, recording, etc.: art. 3. Obligation to exchange information. Scientific Committee on Antarctic Research of the International Council of Scientific Unions (SCAR) advises.
 * 1980 Convention on the Conservation of Antarctic Marine Living Resources (CCAMLR) set up a Commission (Hobart, Tasmania) and a Scientific Committee. Objective: conservation, including rational use. Approaches: precaution, ecosystem. The Commission can adopt such measures: quota (incl. size, age, sex), designated areas, protected species, open/closed seasons/areas, regulation of harvest methods and gear, etc.: art. IX(2). Art. IV binds parties to arts. IV and VI of the Antarctic Treaty even though they may not be parties to this. CCAMLR does not derogate from 1946 Whaling Convention, 1972 Antarctic Seals Convention (art. VI).
 * 1991 Madrid Antarctic Environment Protocol, superseding CRAMRA and establishing a Committee for Environmental Protection: “natural reserve, devoted to peace and science”: art. 2; “intrinsic value of Antarctica”: art. 3. Mineral resource activities other than scientific research are banned (unlike CRAMRA): art. 7. Six annexes: environmental impact assessment (also art. 8 of main treaty text), fauna and flora conservation (annex II art. 4(2) banning dogs), waste disposal and management, marine pollution prevention (referring to MARPOL 73/78), area protection and management, liability from emergencies (annex VI added 2005, not yet in force).
 * Guidelines on tourism, visitors, yachting.

Arctic Council
1991 Arctic Environmental Protection Strategy (AEPS) started the Rovaniemi Process to ‘ensure the protection of the Arctic environment and its sustainable and equitable development, while protecting the cultures of indigenous peoples’ – 1989 Arctic Countries Environmental Cooperation.

1996 Ottawa Declaration set up the Arctic Council, subsuming AEPS: 8 states CA, DK, FI, IS, NO, RU, SE, US plus 6 permanent participants e.g. indigenous organizations like Saami Council, Inuit Circumpolar Council. Secretariat in Tromsø since 2013.

Six working groups:
 * Arctic Contaminants Action Program (ACAP)
 * Arctic Monitoring and Assessment Programme (AMAP)
 * Conservation of Arctic Flora and Fauna (CAFF): cf. 1973 Polar Bears Agreement
 * Emergency Prevention, Preparedness and Response (EPPR)
 * Protection of the Arctic Marine Environment (PAME)
 * Sustainable Development Working Group (SDWG).

Three agreements have been signed, in addition to soft law:
 * 2011 Nuuk Agreement on Cooperation on Aeronautical and Maritime Search and Rescue in the Arctic (in force 2013)
 * 2013 Kiruna Agreement on Cooperation on Marine Oil Pollution Preparedness and Response (in force 2016-03-25): plans for response must be in place &larr; 1990 International Convention on Oil Pollution Preparedness, Response and Co-operation, polluter pays principle
 * 2017 Fairbanks Agreement on Enhancing International Arctic Scientific Cooperation.