Chan-Tung & Lavorel: L’Antarctique : enjeux et perspectives juridiques

Ludovic Chan-Tung (Université Grenoble-Alpes - Law) & Sabine Lavorel (Université Grenoble-Alpes - Law) have published L’Antarctique : enjeux et perspectives juridiques (Pedone 2021). The table of contents is here. Here's the abstract:

Depuis maintenant plus de 60 ans, l’Antarctique est soumis à un régime juridique unique au monde. Le Traité de Washington, signé le 1er décembre 1959, instaure au-delà du 60ème parallèle sud la première zone non-militarisée et non-nucléarisée de la planète, gérée collectivement par l’ensemble des Etats parties. Il fait de l’Antarctique un continent protégé de toute appropriation étatique et dédié à la recherche scientifique, dans « l’intérêt de l’humanité tout entière ». Au fil des années, ce dispositif inédit a été complété par plusieurs conventions protégeant l’environnement si spécifique de la zone australe et par les décisions adoptées annuellement par les Etats parties au Traité de Washington, désormais au nombre de 54. Cet ensemble d’instruments internationaux, connu sous le nom de Système du Traité sur l’Antarctique (STA), constitue un exemple unique de gouvernance internationale d’une région dédiée à la paix, aux activités scientifiques et à la protection de l’environnement.

Ces dernières années, le STA est toutefois confronté à des défis inédits : aux risques environnementaux exacerbés par le réchauffement climatique dont les effets sont particulièrement sensibles en Antarctique, s’ajoutent les incertitudes liées à l’intensification des activités humaines dans la zone (pêche, tourisme, bioprospection, exploration minière) et les tensions géopolitiques résultant à la fois de la résurgence des prétentions territoriales de certains Etats parties et de la convoitise de plusieurs d’entre eux sur les ressources naturelles du continent blanc.

Dans ce contexte, cet ouvrage vise à apporter un éclairage analytique du STA, en mettant plus particulièrement en exergue trois enjeux auxquels celui-ci est désormais confronté : celui de l’avenir de la gouvernance internationalisée mise en place par le Traité de Washington, celui de l’exacerbation des rivalités géostratégiques autour de la zone antarctique et, enfin, celui de « l’exportation normative » d’un régime international sans équivalent qui constitue, à bien des égards, un véritable laboratoire du droit international contemporain.

Scott & VanderZwaag: Research Handbook on Polar Law

Karen N. Scott (Univ. of Canterbury - Law) & David L. VanderZwaag (Dalhousie Univ. - Law) have published Research Handbook on Polar Law (Edward Elgar Publishing 2020). The table of contents is here. Here's the abstract:

This timely Research Handbook explores the concept of polar law as a coherent body of law and as a set of rules and principles that applies to both the Arctic and Antarctic. It captures the evolution of polar law and policy, identifying future directions for research in this emerging and growing field.

Expert international contributors analyse the concept of polar law across a range of areas including human rights, bioprospecting, tourism, environmental protection and fisheries management. They examine how Antarctic and Arctic regional regimes contribute to polar law, scrutinizing international treaties, agreements and arrangements. With a focus on the evolution of polar law in the context of the Anthropocene, chapters cover key issues related to the poles, such as climate change, minerals exploration and boundary disputes. Demonstrating the benefits of polar as opposed to bipolar law, this Research Handbook provides a critical assessment of contemporary challenges to the field.

Conference: Les apports du systeme du traite sur l’antarctique au droit international

On December 5-6, 2019, the Université Grenoble Alpes will host a conference on "Les apports du systeme du traite sur l’antarctique au droit international." The program is here.

Stephens: The Antarctic Treaty System and the Anthropocene

Tim Stephens (Univ. of Sydney - Law) has posted The Antarctic Treaty System and the Anthropocene (Polar Journal, forthcoming). Here's the abstract:

Despite Antarctica’s isolation, the Anthropocene’s signature is inscribed deeply there, from the ozone hole etched in the southern sky to the cleaving of the ice shelves into the Southern Ocean. The Antarctic Treaty sought to quarantine Antarctica from the nuclear technologies that heralded the advent of the Anthropocene, and the Antarctic Treaty System (ATS) is imbued with a romantic environmental ideal of Antarctica as a pristine wilderness that needs only to be left alone to be protected. But in the Anthropocene it is the global forces let loose by human hands that are transforming Antarctica, rather than any activities on the continent itself. What does this mean for our legal imaginings of Antarctica and the Southern Ocean? What might an ATS that understands and responds to the challenges of the Anthropocene look like?

Wang: International Law on Antarctic Mineral Resource Exploitation

Runyu Wang has published International Law on Antarctic Mineral Resource Exploitation (Peter Lang 2017). Here's the abstract:

This book analyzes the legal regime of the exploitation of the mineral resources in the Antarctic. Therefore, it elaborates on the development of the Antarctic Treaty and the Antarctic Treaty System (ATS). The author examines the history and influence of the Convention for the Regulation of Antarctic Mineral Resource Activities (CRAMRA), which purpose it is to prohibit unregulated mineral resource activities in Antarctica, and its provisions are extremely strict with the aim of environmental protection. Through analyzing and comparing the CRAMRA and the 1991 Environmental Protocol, the book concludes that it is not beyond credulity to imagine that a new round of discussion on Antarctic mineral exploration will be held in the near future.

OGEL: Emerging Issues in Polar Energy Law and Governance

Oil, Gas and Energy Law has published a special issue (no. 2, 2016) on "Emerging Issues in Polar Energy Law and Governance." The table of contents is here.

Molenaar, Elferink, & Rothwell: The Law of the Sea and the Polar Regions: Interactions between Global and Regional Regimes

Erik J. Molenaar (Utrecht Univ.), Alex G. Oude Elferink (Utrecht Univ.), & Donald R. Rothwell (Australian National Univ.) have published The Law of the Sea and the Polar Regions: Interactions between Global and Regional Regimes (Martinus Nijhoff Publishers 2013). The table of contents is here. Here's the abstract:

The Law of the Sea and the Polar Regions: Interactions between Global and Regional Regimes analyzes of the contemporary law of the sea and related areas of international law in Antarctica and the Arctic, with a particular focus upon the interaction of global and regional regimes. The global component of the international law of the sea - principally the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea - applies to the entire marine domain in both polar regions but explicitly requires regional implementation or acknowledges its usefulness. This volume critically examines regional regimes for the Arctic and Antarctic on science, maritime security, fisheries and shipping by means of common research questions; thus enabling an overall synthesis and identification of trends, differences and similarities.

Hemmings, Rothwell, & Scott: Antarctic Security in the Twenty-First Century: Legal and Policy Perspectives

Alan D. Hemmings, Donald R. Rothwell (Australian National Univ. - Law), Karen N. Scott (Univ. of Canterbury - Law) have published Antarctic Security in the Twenty-First Century: Legal and Policy Perspectives (Routledge 2012). The table of contents is here. Here's the abstract:

The Antarctic Treaty (1959) was adopted for the purpose of bringing peace and stability to Antarctica and to facilitate cooperation in scientific research conducted on and around the continent. It has now been over fifty years since the signing of the treaty, nevertheless security continues to drive and shape the laws and policy regime which governs the region. Antarctic Security in the Twenty-First Century: Legal and Policy Perspectives assess Antarctic security from multiple legal and policy perspectives. This book reviews the existing security construct in Antarctica, critically assesses its status in the early part of the Twenty-First century and considers how Antarctic security may be viewed in both the immediate and distant future. The book assesses emerging new security threats, including the impact of climate change and the issues arising from increased human traffic to Antarctica by scientists, tourists, and mariners. The authors call into question whether the existing Antarctic security construct framed around the Antarctic Treaty remains viable, or whether new Antarctic paradigms are necessary for the future governance of the region. The contributions to this volume engage with a security discourse which has expanded beyond the traditional military domain to include notions of security from the perspective of economics, the environment and bio-security. This book provides a contemporary and innovative approach to Antarctic issues which will be of interest to scholars of international law, international relations, security studies and political science as well as policy makers, lawyers and government officials with an interest in the region.

Conference: Legal Regimes of Sea, Antarctica, Air and Space

The seventh international conference of the Indian Society of International Law will take place January 15-17, 2010, in New Delhi. (I noted the call for papers here.) The topic is "Legal Regimes of Sea, Antarctica, Air and Space." The program is here.

Call for Papers: Legal Regimes of Sea, Antarctica, Air and Space

The Indian Society of International Law has issued a call for papers for its seventh international conference, January 15-17, 2010, in New Delhi. The topic is "Legal Regimes of Sea, Antarctica, Air and Space." The call for papers is here. The deadline for submissions is November 16, 2009.

Treaty Transmittal: Annex VI to the Protocol on Environmental Protection to the Antarctic Treaty

On Thursday, April 2nd, the President transmitted to the Senate, for its advice and consent to ratification, Annex VI on Liability Arising From Environmental Emergencies to the Protocol on Environmental Protection to the Antarctic Treaty, adopted on June 14, 2005, at the twenty-eighth Antarctic Treaty Consultative Meeting held in Stockholm, Sweden. The transmittal package (Treaty Doc. 111-2) is here. This if the first treaty transmitted by President Obama.

Triggs & Riddell: Antarctica: Legal and Environmental Challenges for the Future

Gillian Triggs (British Institute of International and Comparative Law & Univ. of Melbourne - Law) & Anna Riddell (British Institute of International and Comparative Law) have published Antarctica: Legal and Environmental Challenges for the Future (British Institute of International and Comparative Law 2007). Contents include:

• Marie Jacobsson, The Antarctic Treaty System: Legal and Environmental Issues: Future Challenges for the Antarctic Treaty System
• Patrizia Vigni, The Secretariat of the Antarctic Treaty: Achievements and Weaknesses three Years after its Establishment
• Stuart Kaye, IUU Fishing in the Southern Ocean: Challenge and Response
• Christopher C. Joyner, The Emerging Legal Regime for Navigation through Antarctic Ice-Covered Waters
• Alan Brown, Some Current Issues Facing the Convention on the Conservation of Antarctic Marine Living Resources (CCAMLR)
• Louise Angelique de La Fayette, Responding to Environmental Damage in Antarctica
• Debra Enzenbacher, Antarctic Tourism Policy-Making: Current Challenges and Future Prospects
• Ivana Zovko, Vessel-Sourced Pollution in the Southern Ocean: Benefits and Shortcomings of Regional Regulation