Principles of international environmental protection - Introduction to International Environmental Law - page 96

Figure 4.3 Demonstrators dressed as penguins outside a meeting related to the Antarc-
tic Treaty in Bonn in April 1991. It was not clear before this preparatory
meeting whether the parties would allow or ban mining in Antarctica. It
was, in fact, banned. (Photo © Andrew Jackson)
Perhaps the pressure to protect the sensitive Arctic environment will
magnify to the extent that one day the environmental threats to it might be
addressed by an administrative model established by an international treaty.
Efforts to protect the vulnerable environment are now being made by the
Arctic Council. It is a cooperating forum of eight Arctic states, which cannot
make binding decisions but has conducted valuable work especially in
researching Arctic environmental threats. 16