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Published online by Cambridge University Press: 21 July 2009
On June 2, 1988, the Convention on the Regulation of Antarctic Mineral Activities was concluded after several years of negotiations. Starting with a review of the 1959 Antarctic Treaty, the author discusses the new Convention and the organs it has created. Special attention is paid to the possible impact of mineral activities to the unique environment of Antarctica, and the safeguards which are offered by the Convention in this respect. According to the author, it can be doubted whether the regime's institutions will adequately account for the environmental consequences of mineral activities.
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3. Art. IX(2). These acceding counlries are: Poland, the Federal Republic of Germany, Brazil, India, the People's Republic of China, Uruguay, the German Democratic Republic and Italy.
4. Art. IX(1).
5. The Non-Consultative Parties are: Bulgaria, Canada, Cuba, Czechoslowakia, Denmark, Equador, Finland, Greece, Hungary, The Netherlands, Norlh Korea, Papua New Guinea, Peru, Romania, South Korea, Spain and Sweden.
6. Moreover, Antarctica is the first nuclear free zone in the world; consequently nuclear explosions and dumping of radioactive waste are prohibited. See Art. V(l).
7. Arts. II, III.
8. Triggs, supra, note 2, at 439.
9. Indicated are the years in which these states made their first claims to territorial sovereignty.
10. Antarctica is expected to have enormous amounts of mineral resources like coal, gas, oil, silver, platinum, copper, iron-ore, cobalt, nickel, uranium, and chrome. See Peterson, Antarctica: The Great Land Rush on Earth, 34 International Organization 384–387 (1980).
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16. Regarding its decision-making power a three-fourths majority of members present and voting is required for mailers of substance and other decisions can be taken by simple majority. One of the characteristics of the Antarctic Treaty System, however, is that decision-making happens by consensus.
17. Art. 21 of the Convention.
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20. Art. 41 of the Convention.
21. Art. 22(2.b) of the Convention. For the purposes of Art 22, consensus means the absence of a formal objection.
22. Art. 26 of the Convention.
23. Art. 29 of the Convention; Art. 9(b) provides: “Nothing in this Convention and no acts or activities taking place while this Convention is in force shall be interpreted as a renunciation or diminution by any Party of, or as prejudicing, any right or claim or basis of claim to territorial sovereignty in Antarctica or to exercise coastal state jurisdiction under international law“
24. Joyer, supra, note 12, at 79.
25. Art. 47 of the Convention.
26. Environmental impact means in this context “those changes in the natural environment that result from human activity”. See Joyner, Protection of the Antarctic Environment: Rethinking the Problems and Prospects, 19 Cornell International Law Journal 261 (1986).
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35. Art. 13(2) of the Convention.
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37. Art. 8 of the Convention: Response Action and Liability.
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39. Art. 34 of the Convention.
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