Hostname: page-component-848d4c4894-hfldf Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-05-28T19:56:09.042Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

The United Nations and Antarctica, 1994: the restoration of consensus?

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  27 October 2009

Peter J. Beck
Peter J. Beck
Affiliation:
Faculty of Human Sciences, Kingston University, Kingston upon Thames KT1 2EEE
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

The twelfth successive UN session on the ‘Question of Antarctica,’ held at the close of 1994, saw a major change of direction. One brief session of the First Committee, followed by the General Assembly's adoption of resolution A49/80 without a vote, signified the restoration of a consensus approach towards the ‘Question of Antarctica’ for the first time since 1985. Resolution A49/80 stressed the need for Antarctic Treaty Parties (ATPs) to meet commitments undertaken at the 1992 United Nations Conference on Environment and Development, and particularly to continue providing the wider international community with information about Antarctic developments. The ‘Question of Antarctica’ will not be placed on the UN agenda again until 1996, thereby breaking the sequence of annual UN discussions started in 1983. On the surface, consensus was restored, but it is debatable how far the outcome represented merely a papering over of the cracks rather than the basis for an enduring solution to the problems dividing ATPs and their critics. The key point at issue remains the nature and extent of the UN's future role in Antarctic affairs, particularly as ATPs will only accept a limited UN role performed within the context of the Antarctic Treaty System.

Type
Articles
Information
Polar Record , Volume 31 , Issue 179 , October 1995 , pp. 419 - 424
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1995

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

ATCPs. 1994. Final report of the Eighteenth Antarctic Treaty Consultative Meeting, Kyoto, 11–22 04 1994.Google Scholar
Beck, P.J. 1993. The United Nations and Antarctica, 1992: still searching for that elusive convergence of view. Polar Record 29 (171): 313–320.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Beck, P.J. 1994. The United Nations and Antarctica, 1993: continuing controversy about the UN's role in Antarctica. Polar Record 30 (175): 257–264.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Enzenbacher, D. 1994. Antarctic tourism: an overview of 1992/93 season activity, recent developments, and emerging issues. Polar Record 30 (173): 105–116.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Fox, A.J., and Cooper, P.R.. 1994. Measured properties of the Antarctic ice sheet derived from the SCAR Antarctic digital database project. Polar Record 30 (174): 201–206.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
UN. 1992. United Nations General Assembly Records 47th Session. Report of the UN Conference on Environment and Development, Rio de Janeiro, 3–14 June 1992, A/CONF/151/26/Rev.1, volume 1.Google Scholar
UN. 1993. United Nations General Assembly Records 48th Session. Report of the Secretary-General on the Question of Antarctica, 18 10 1993, A48/449.Google Scholar
UN. 1994a. United Nations General Assembly Records49th Session. Report of the Secretary-General on the Question of Antarctica, 13 09 1994, A49/370.Google Scholar
UN. 1994b. Safeguarding Antarctica's key role in a balanced world ecosystem. New York: UN Department of Public Information, 08 1994 (DPI 1555).Google Scholar
UN. 1994c. United Nations General Assembly Records 49th Session. 26th meeting of the First Committee, 22 11 1994, A49/C.1/PV26.Google Scholar
UN. 1994d. United Nations General Assembly Records 48th Session. Resolution adopted by the General Assembly, 13 01 1994, A/RES/48/80.Google Scholar
UN. 1994e. United Nations General Assembly Records 49th Session. Draft resolution proposed by the Chairman, Question of Antarctica, 21 11 1994, A49/C.1/L.53.Google Scholar
UN. 1994f. United Nations General Assembly Records 49th Session. Report of the First Committee on the Question of Antarctica, 28 11 1994, A49/704.Google Scholar
UN. 1995. United Nations General Assembly Records 49th Session. Resolution adopted by the General Assembly, 11 01 1995, A/RES/49/80.Google Scholar
Watts, A. 1992. International law and the Antarctic Treaty System. Cambridge: Grotius Publications.Google Scholar
Woolcott, R. 1987. Peaceful solutions: the Antarctic Treaty. London: British Broadcasting Corporation, World Service, 23 09 1987.Google Scholar