WASHINGTON DC 30 Nov-3 Dec 2009 Antarctic Treaty Summit marks 50th anniversary of the pact

The Antarctic Treaty, signed on 1 Dec 1959, internationalized and demilitarized the Antarctic and provided for its cooperative exploration and use. It did not foresee the fierce international rivalry in the 21st Century for oil and minerals. Eleven countries have claimed sovereignty over parts of Antarctica to secure the contiguous offshore oil, gas and mineral rights. The Antarctic Treaty Summit will observe the 50th anniversary and wrestle with a host of challenges to Antarctic health.

The official intent of the summit, held at the at the Smithsonian Institution, is to "assess legacy lessons of the Antarctic Treaty on its 50th anniversary in the city where it was signed."

In the treaty, which was ratified on 23 Jun 1961 by 48 countries, Antarctica is defined as all land and ice shelves south of 60 degrees south latitude. A new report shows that the ice shelves are shrinking, leaving more seabed to fight over. Ten Chilean and Argentine lawmakers gathered in the Antarctic to stake territorial rights after Britain claimed a wide swath of ocean bottom off the frozen continent. Chile and Argentina's territorial rights claims came in response to a British bid submitted to the United Nations in Oct 2007 for sovereignty over more than 385,000 square miles of seabed off Antarctica. Other nations asserting claims over the seas around Antarctica include Russia, Brazil, Australia, Ireland, New Zealand, France, Spain and Norway.

According to the Associated Press, the claims of Argentina, Chile and Britain are particularly difficult to sort out, since the British application to extend the boundaries of the British Antarctic Territory it first claimed in 1908 overlaps with similar claims by Argentina and Chile.

The UN's Convention of the Law of the Sea would expand each coastal nation's sovereignty over its continental shelf from 230 miles to 380 miles off shore. But the claims must first be approved by the UN Commission on the Limits of the Continental Shelf, which faces a May deadline to announce its decisions.

The Nov-Dec summit and a series of consultative meetings, the most recent in Apr 2009, are wrestling with the apparent challenges to the treaty and the region. These include the threat posed by climate change; the need to protect the fragile Antarctic ecosystem from illegal, unregulated and unreported fishing; the challenge faced by increased and varied forms of tourism; and the continuing need to protect Antarctica from commercial exploitation.

RELATED READING:
Chile, Argentina battle British in Antarctica (AP 5 Mar 2009)
http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5ivbqLwo66vBdtA_QFPRMPLGMQJ5wD96O55RG0

Antarctic Treaty Secretariat web
http://www.ats.aq/index_e.htm