An Analysis of the Impacts of Climate Change for Management and Governance of the Antarctic Region

Abstract

In recent years, great advances have been made in our understanding of Antarctic climate and environmental change. For lawyers, knowledge is relevant primarily because it reinforces decision-making. In some cases, a more in-depth knowledge and awareness leads to the fundamental rethinking of an approach to a situation or the respective legal construction. For a long time analysed as a “pole apart”, Antarctica is not treated in this article simply as proof of climate change and interconnectivity: the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) will use these data to integrate the results of the International Polar Year (IPY) in its Fifth Report (2014). Rather, in this article we analyse the region’s relationship with climate risk management, as Antarctic actors try to transform the IPY legacy into a more effective Antarctic regime. The extensive cooperation in Antarctica, centred on the Antarctic Treaty System (ATS), is certainly a good foundation for achieving concrete results. From 2006, climate risk management has been given some attention by the Antarctic Treaty Consultative Meeting (ATCM XXIX). Following the SCAR Report (2009), the Parties of the Antarctic Treaty System (ATS) met in 2010 in Norway. The meeting served to redefine the Antarctic Region as an element in and for climate-smart disaster risk management. It was recognised that the Antarctic Region offers a unique environment for the study of climate change, and the matter became a specific item within the ATS. The parties agreed to adopt a climate change response work programme. Improving protection for the Antarctic Region means acting on climate capacity building regarding in situ growth activities. A more regional approach to the application of environmental management tools is to be taken into particular consideration. However, according to an integrated interpretation of the Antarctic environment (holistic approach), is the federal cooperation strong enough to face up to concrete future challenges?