The Antarctic Environments Portal
The Representatives,
Recalling Article 3 of the Protocol on Environmental Protection to the Antarctic Treaty (“the Protocol”), in particular its requirement that activities in the Antarctic Treaty area shall be planned and conducted on the basis of information sufficient to allow prior assessments of, and informed judgments about, their possible impacts on the Antarctic environment and dependent and associated ecosystems and on the value of Antarctica for the conduct of scientific research;
Recognising that the increasing complexity of protecting the Antarctic environment in the context of increasing human activity and a changing Antarctic climate requires access to policy-ready information to support the effective implementation of the Protocol;
Acknowledging with appreciation the longstanding scientific advisory role to the Antarctic Treaty system of the Scientific Committee on Antarctic Research (“SCAR”);
Welcoming the development of the Antarctic Environments Portal (“the Portal”) as a mechanism to provide state-of-knowledge reports on priority or emerging issues, which can be drawn on to support effective management and governance of the region, including effective implementation of the Protocol;
Noting that the Portal will also provide a mechanism to support SCAR in providing independent, scientifically based information to the Antarctic Treaty system;
Recommend that their Governments:
1. commend the Portal as an important mechanism for making high quality, accurate, non-political and up-to-date scientific advice available to the Committee for Environmental Protection (“CEP”) and the Antarctic Treaty Parties and as a useful tool for its use by Parties on a voluntary basis;
2. request SCAR to use the Portal as appropriate for providing state-of-knowledge reports on issues of policy and management relevance;
3. encourage scientists to participate in the preparation and review of articles for the Portal;
4. consider opportunities to support the management of the Portal; and
5. invite Members of CEP to contribute to the environmental policy relevance of the Portal through active involvement in the Editorial Group, and by providing feedback on the content of the Portal, including the identification of new material.
The Representatives,
Recalling Article 3 of the Protocol on Environmental Protection to the Antarctic Treaty (“the Protocol”), in particular its requirement that activities in the Antarctic Treaty area shall be planned and conducted on the basis of information sufficient to allow prior assessments of, and informed judgments about, their possible impacts on the Antarctic environment and dependent and associated ecosystems and on the value of Antarctica for the conduct of scientific research;
Recognising that the increasing complexity of protecting the Antarctic environment in the context of increasing human activity and a changing Antarctic climate requires access to policy-ready information to support the effective implementation of the Protocol;
Acknowledging with appreciation the longstanding scientific advisory role to the Antarctic Treaty system of the Scientific Committee on Antarctic Research (“SCAR”);
Welcoming the development of the Antarctic Environments Portal (“the Portal”) as a mechanism to provide state-of-knowledge reports on priority or emerging issues, which can be drawn on to support effective management and governance of the region, including effective implementation of the Protocol;
Noting that the Portal will also provide a mechanism to support SCAR in providing independent, scientifically based information to the Antarctic Treaty system;
Recommend that their Governments:
1. commend the Portal as an important mechanism for making high quality, accurate, non-political and up-to-date scientific advice available to the Committee for Environmental Protection (“CEP”) and the Antarctic Treaty Parties and as a useful tool for its use by Parties on a voluntary basis;
2. request SCAR to use the Portal as appropriate for providing state-of-knowledge reports on issues of policy and management relevance;
3. encourage scientists to participate in the preparation and review of articles for the Portal;
4. consider opportunities to support the management of the Portal; and
5. invite Members of CEP to contribute to the environmental policy relevance of the Portal through active involvement in the Editorial Group, and by providing feedback on the content of the Portal, including the identification of new material.
