The US has urged China and Russia to “get on side with conservation” and stop blocking nearly 4m sq km in new marine protected areas around Antarctica.
Speaking at a major international meeting on Antarctic conservation in Hobart, the US assistant secretary of state, Monica Medina, said the two countries had prevented the creation of three new protected areas in Antarctic waters “for too long” and it was time to “shake up the system”.
Medina said the declaration of protected areas in east Antarctica, the Weddell Sea and around the Western Antarctic Peninsula had been recommended by scientists and supported by other member states of the Commission for the Conservation of Antarctic Marine Living Resources – but China and Russia were standing in the way.
“It’s time for those two countries to lower their objections to get on side with conservation,” she told the Guardian.
“We don’t have time to waste, and the fact that parties are here means it’s a priority, and that Antarctica is a priority.
“As much as we object to Russia’s abhorrent war in Ukraine, we have to use our chances in bodies like this to make progress on the issues that are important for the health and the wellbeing of people all across this planet.”
The first day of the fortnight-long commission meeting was disrupted when nearly 20 member countries walked out in protest while a member of the Russian delegation was speaking. An Australian Antarctic Division official said Monday’s walkout was to demonstrate “strong support for Ukraine” and utter rejection of Russia’s “unilateral, illegal and immoral invasion”.
The commission chair, Dr Jakob Granit, said it had been a geopolitical success that the meeting of 26 countries and the EU was being held with all members present given two of the parties were at war. He told a press conference that agreement on marine protected areas “might be difficult” despite the conservation proposals having been planned for years and based on “scientifically sound” evidence.
“Not all members are seeing the full value of those at this time, yet,” Granit said.
But Medina said countries turning up for the annual meeting was not enough. “We will continue to push to make progress here and do our very best to put the conditions in place that would allow for a total consensus on the creation of marine protected areas this year – and if not at this meeting, within this year,” she said.
Australia’s environment minister, Tanya Plibersek, said increasing the number of marine protected areas around Antarctica was a priority to ensure ecosystem and species conservation and to help address the impacts of climate change.
“To protect the Antarctic environment is to protect the future of the planet,” she said.
The commission, known as Ccamlr (pronounced “camelar”), was established by an international treaty and has been meeting in Tasmania since 1982. It has had only occasional success – notably a breakthrough agreement to create a 1.5m sq km marine park in the Ross Sea.
Several other protected areas have been delayed as the member countries failed to reach a consensus. An east Antarctic marine protected area was proposed by Australia and the EU in 2012 to protect about 1m sq km that is home to distinctive deep-water flora and fauna and includes feeding areas for marine mammals and seabirds, including penguins.
A Weddell Sea marine protected area has been proposed since 2016 and a Domain 1 protected area, covering the Western Antarctic Peninsula and the South Scotia Arc, has been considered since 2018.
This fortnight’s meeting will also consider the management of fisheries for krill and toothfish, reducing the impact of fishing on marine mammals and seabirds and how to deal with climate change.
Non-government organisations called on the commission members to take urgent action to “safeguard Antarctica’s iconic wildlife”. The Antarctic and Southern Ocean Coalition said it was 10 years past a deadline the commission had set itself to establish a network of marine protected areas in the region, and warned industrial krill fishing was hurting Antarctic ecosystems.
Andrea Kavanagh, from the Pew Charitable Trusts, said virtually every animal species in Antarctica either relied on krill for survival or fed on a species that ate krill.
“Worryingly, we have seen a concentration of krill fishing in recent years, with most of the catch taken from small, nearshore areas,” she said. “Ccamlr must agree on measures to ensure that this fishing does not compete with the feeding grounds of krill predators, including penguins and whales.”
The meeting, which is mostly held behind closed doors, is due to finish on 4 November.
