Geography Reference
In-Depth Information
encourage further tensions involving the disputed islands of the Falklands/Malvinas and
South Georgia, lying outside the Antarctic Treaty's area of application. After a period of
Anglo-Argentine rapprochement, the decision to locate the Secretariat in Buenos Aires was
eventually secured, and over the last decade has begun taking on the following functions:
preparing and supporting ATCM, collecting and publ$blould be ishing the records of the
ATCM, facilitating information exchange between parties as required under the Treaty and
Protocol, and addressing public enquiries.
Third, the ATS expanded its reach, and the original twelve were joined in the intervening
years by a membership encompassing other areas of the world, including other parts of
the Americas, Asia, and Europe. In 1959, twelve countries devised a treaty with limited
interest from the wider international community with the exception of India. The vast ma-
jority of the world's population, especially the colonized world, was not represented at the
Washington Conference. In order to be granted full voting rights, new members have to
demonstrate 'substantial scientific research' involving not inconsiderable financial invest-
ment over an unspecified period. There is no reference in the treaty to how long it might
take to be granted consultative party status. In practice, therefore, it depends on the existing
membership making that judgement on behalf of others. Between 1961 and 2011, a further
36 countries have acceded to the treaty. There are now 28 consultative parties and 20 non-
consultative parties. The latter can attend the ATCP but do not participate in decision-mak-
ing. They might be able to do so in the future. Notably, in the 1980s, Brazil, China, and In-
dia joined the ATS and thus widened the membership, especially from the global South. All
three are consultative parties, and thus participate in the business of the ATS. South Africa
remains the only African representative. In the 1970s and 1980s, it was a controversial
member given its
apartheid
policies, and critics complained that the minority South Afric-
an governments should not be allowed to continue to participate within the ATS. South
African membership acted as a lightening-rod for African critics including Kenya, Zaire,
and Nigeria. Using the debating floor of the UN General Assembly, they facilitated debates
on the 'question of Antarctica' and highlighted as part of that discussion the illegitimacy
of the
apartheid
government. Why, they contended, should an illegitimate government be
allowed to participate in a prestigious regional governance system? The ATCP defended
South African membership and noted that South Africa was an original member of the
Treaty and was not in violation of its provisions.
Finally, the ATS and its membership had to adapt to changing global circumstances includ-
ing the need to embrace legal and political developments outside the Antarctic - including a
gamut of conventions addressing biological diversity, climate change, resource regulation,
law of the sea, and commercial activities. This was perhaps the most significant change
from those negotiating days of the autumn of 1959. One complicating development was
