SC-HASS will be holding an online session on “The ATS, International Law and Governance” as part of the SCAR 2020 Online Science Conference.
Six decades after the signature of the Antarctic Treaty and almost thirty years after the signature of the Protocol on Environmental Protection, it is timely to review how the Antarctic system has evolved and to inquire how it will continue to evolve into the future.
In this panel session, we critically interrogate the Antarctic Treaty System (ATS) and its capacity to confront present and future challenges like climate change, the sustained interest of some actors in Antarctica’s living and nonliving resources, and the latent but never forgotten territorial claims. Does the ATS have the legal tools to tackle these challenges successfully? What aspects are in need of revision (if any)? What could be improved or rethought regarding its structure and functioning?
To answer these questions, we invite contributions that focus on specific aspects of the Antarctic legal regime, governance, and political order—for example, CCAMLR’s integration of science and policy-making, or the history of CRAMRA and its legacy. We equally invite more general perspectives that assess contested concepts like sovereignty, legitimacy, and colonialism as well as hierarchy and their place in the Antarctic context.
The panel will be held on 31st July over two sessions, 07:00-08:30 GMT and 12:00-13:30 GMT, via Zoom.
Full details of the panel, including how to join the sessions, the programme of speakers and the abstracts of their presentations, are available to view and download in the Panel Programme.