Forty-fourth Antarctic Treaty Consultative Meeting - Twenty-fourth Committee for Environmental Protection Meeting
Berlin, Germany
23 May 2022 - 2 Jun 2022
The yearly Antarctic Treaty Consultative Meeting (ATCM) XLIV and the Meeting of the Committee for Environmental Protection (CEP) XXIV took place in Berlin, Germany from 23 May to 2 June. Over 400 participants from the Antarctic Treaty Parties, Observers and Experts participated in the annual meeting. Among them were the representatives of the Commission for the Conservation of Antarctic Marine Living Resources (CCAMLR), the Council of Managers of National Antarctic Programs (COMNAP) and the Scientific Committee on Antarctic Research (SCAR). Mrs. Tania von Uslar-Gleichen, Deputy Head of the Legal Department and Director for International Law at the Federal Foreign Office, chaired the meeting. Working Group 2 was co-chaired by Mr Phil Tracey (tourism) and Ms Sonia Ramos (science and operations), and Working Group 1 (legal and institutional matters) was chaired by Mr Ted Kill. The CEP, which took place from 23 to 27 May, was chaired by Ms Birgit Njåstad (Norway). The CEP reviewed the management plans of 16 Antarctic Specially Protected Areas (ASPAs) and 1 Antarctic Specially Managed Area (ASMA) and decided to review a proposal for a new draft ASPA intersessionally. The CEP decided to plan for a joint workshop on climate change and monitoring with the Scientific Committee of the Commission for the Conservation of Antarctic Marine Living Resources (SC-CAMLR). The Consultative Parties adopted Decisions, Measures and Resolutions on air safety in Antarctica, revised guidelines for the assessment and management of Heritage in Antarctica, liability, Antarctic climate change and the environment, new requirements for the exchange of information among Parties, and others. The Meeting also agreed to a Resolution to prevent the construction and/or exploitation of any structure or facility exclusively for tourism and other non-governmental activities to be operated in Antarctica over multiple seasons, where its construction, operations or removal is expected to have more than a minor or transitory impact on the Antarctic environment and its dependent and associated ecosystems, or the intrinsic natural wilderness and historical values of Antarctica.
