A major international meeting on protections for Antarctica, called the Antarctic Treaty Consultative Meeting (ATCM), concluded earlier this month. While many of the policies advocated for by Only One and other environmental groups were not adopted, there is still reason for hope. In brief, the bad news: a comprehensive plan to respond to climate change and a proposal by the UK to designate emperor penguins as specially protected were both blocked despite popular support. The big bright spot: progress was made on advancing more sustainable tourism. This matters because very few mandatory measures on tourism are in place, even as the number of tourists visiting Antarctica grows each year. Now that ATCM is behind us, we’re looking ahead to this year’s most important meeting on the protection of Antarctica: CCAMLR (pronounced “kam-lar”). CCAMLR will take place in the fall, and until then, we need to create as much public momentum as possible so that world leaders will know we expect action! Can you help us get the word out to #ProtectAntarctica on Twitter?
Talks stall at meeting on Antarctica, but hope remains
Trevor Jones
Image © John Weller
Trevor Jones
Image © John Weller
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