Kees Bastmeijer, Akiho Shibata, Imme Steinhage, L. Ferrada, Evan T. Bloom
{"title":"Regulating Antarctic Tourism: The Challenge of Consensus-Based Decision-Making","authors":"Kees Bastmeijer, Akiho Shibata, Imme Steinhage, L. Ferrada, Evan T. Bloom","doi":"10.1017/ajil.2023.34","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"In the 2022-2023 season, more than 104,000 tourists visited Antarctica. This represents an increase of more than 40 percent compared to the 2019-20 pre-pandemic season. The diversity of activities is also constantly growing. This note provides an overview of these developments and discusses the extent to which the Antarctic Treaty Consultative Parties, that govern Antarctica on the basis of consensus, have responded with regulatory action. The analysis shows that little decision-making has taken place and that no consensus could be reached on many policy questions in relation to growing Antarctic tourism. Failure to ensure timely and adequate international responses to environmental challenges poses not only a risk to the Antarctic environment, but could also constitute a challenge to the legitimacy and stability of the Antarctic Treaty governance system. In this light, options are identified for strengthening Antarctic decision-making regarding Antarctic tourism.","PeriodicalId":47841,"journal":{"name":"American Journal of International Law","volume":"1 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":2.7000,"publicationDate":"2023-06-23","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":"1","resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"American Journal of International Law","FirstCategoryId":"90","ListUrlMain":"https://doi.org/10.1017/ajil.2023.34","RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"社会学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"","PubModel":"","JCR":"Q1","JCRName":"INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS","Score":null,"Total":0}
引用次数: 1
Abstract
In the 2022-2023 season, more than 104,000 tourists visited Antarctica. This represents an increase of more than 40 percent compared to the 2019-20 pre-pandemic season. The diversity of activities is also constantly growing. This note provides an overview of these developments and discusses the extent to which the Antarctic Treaty Consultative Parties, that govern Antarctica on the basis of consensus, have responded with regulatory action. The analysis shows that little decision-making has taken place and that no consensus could be reached on many policy questions in relation to growing Antarctic tourism. Failure to ensure timely and adequate international responses to environmental challenges poses not only a risk to the Antarctic environment, but could also constitute a challenge to the legitimacy and stability of the Antarctic Treaty governance system. In this light, options are identified for strengthening Antarctic decision-making regarding Antarctic tourism.
期刊介绍:
AJIL is a leading peer-reviewed journal, published quarterly since 1907. It features articles, essays, editorial comments, current developments, and book reviews by pre-eminent scholars and practitioners from around the world addressing developments in public and private international law and foreign relations law. The Journal also contains analyses of decisions by national and international courts and tribunals as well as a section on contemporary U.S. practice in international law. AJIL and AJIL Unbound are indispensable for all professionals working in international law, economics, trade, and foreign affairs.