Finland
Environmentalists: Little progress at Antarctica meeting
Emperor penguins in Antarctica. photo
© Liu Shiping/XinHua/dpa
Smaller successes, but no concrete steps towards protection zones and the regulation of Antarctic tourism: Experts complain that little was achieved in Helsinki.
According to environmental organizations, an Antarctic conference in Finland ended without major progress in protecting the climate and emperor penguins. The results of the meeting of the Consultative Parties to the Antarctic Treaty (ATCM) in Helsinki do not reflect the extent of the climate and biodiversity crises the region around the South Pole is currently facing, criticized the Antarctic and Southern Ocean Association ASOC.
The conference dealt with questions of climate protection and the protection of important species, but made little progress on the way to the necessary measures, the ASOC announced at the end of the almost two-week meeting. However, smaller achievements had been achieved, such as the creation of a new protected area in East Antarctica and a broad agreement on the importance of effective regulation of shipping and tourism. However, efforts to better regulate Antarctic tourism have largely come to nothing.
“The ATCM has once again missed an opportunity to secure the future of Antarctica,” complained ASOC Managing Director Claire Christian. The main outcome of the meeting was a declaration that would have limited practical implications. Calls for wording in the statement on the urgency of action to mitigate the worst effects of climate change in Antarctica have been blocked by a small group of countries. A member also stood in the way of a decision to designate the emperor penguin as a specially protected species.
The annual ATCM deals with protected zones on land and on the ice shelf, and meetings of the Antarctic Commission CCAMLR deal with marine protected areas. A special CCAMLR meeting will be held in Chile on June 19-23, shortly after the ATCM in Helsinki.