UK OPPOSITION PARTIES REJECT GOVERNMENT POLICY

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A p r i l 22 - 30 , l9 9 l
V o lu m c I , X XX
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--AN NGO NEWSPAI'E,RI'UBLISHED for the
XI ANTARC'I'IC'I'RI.]ATYSPECIA[,CONSULTATIVEMEETING
Japanhasnowjoinedthe ranksof thosecallingfor a prohibitionon mineralresourcc
activitiesin Antarctica.This representsa major shift by a country long secnas
committedto the mining option.
We stronglyapplaudthis enlighteneddecisionby Japan,which now leavesonly the
reactionaryrump of the UK and USA stronglypursuingmining in Antarctica.
UK OPPOSITIONPARTIESREJECTGOVERNMENTPOLICY
Gcrald l(aufrnan,the Labour Party's
shadowForcignMinistcrcamco Madrid
on thc openingday of thc SCM o
prorcst$e UK Goramment'sproposal
for a moratoriumon mincralactivides
in thc.Anurctic. Hc saidthatthel-abour
party opposed the ratification of
CRAMRA and now opposcd any
moratoriumon mining."{ moraorium
is a compromiscwhich leavcsopcnlhc
option to minc at somc futurc datc"
and " this was not acccpuble to thc
l:bour Party." He saidthatany futurc
l-abourGovcmmentwould havc onc
Anrarcdcpolicy- thatAntarcricashould
bc a World Parkand thcy would "not
ncccssarily
bcboundby anyagrocmcnt
madc this weck by thc UK
Govcrnmcnl" Thc l-abourparty is thc
official and largcstoppositionto Orc
currcntConscrvativcGovcrnmcnt.
movc on thc l8th April,
In a srcparatc
PaddyAshdown,leadcrof the Libcral
Dcmocra6, wrote a public lettcr to Ore
PrimeMinistcrJohnMajor. Hebrought
Mr Major's attendono the proposalto
dcsignatcAntarcticaa"NatureRescrve
-L:nd of Science.- "It is a matbr of
grcirt corrcrn to me that thedtemadve
proposal has bccn prt fonvard by the
would
UnitcdKingdom.ls acceptance
prcjudice ths futurc of thc Antarcdc
cnvironment by guarantccingthc
inuoducdonof a mincralsrcgimcaftcr
a shon dclay." Hc bclicvcs that thc
"Forcign officc hasrcpcatcdlymislcd
MPs and thc British public [andl thcy
havc badly misjudgedthc mood of
publicopiniononprcscrvingthcfragilc
wildcmcss of Anrarcdca."
BoOrl-:bour andthc Libcral Dcmocrat
Particshavc advocatcda World Park
Jxitrcy for almosttwo ycars. WiOrOrc
prospecrof a gernral elcction by next
ycar thc oppsition paniesare making
it known that they rclxt thc UK's
currentAntarcticpolicy.Wcrc thcreto
be a change of Govcrnment both
opposition panies havc pledgcd Ont
their Antarcticpolicy.rould crnbracca
pennancntmining ban.
THE BIGREDBUSTHEUK ONTHE
ROADTO MINING
Thc Grccnpcace doublc-dcckcr
informationbusisparkcdonGcncral
Pcron.36, thrcc minulcsfrom thc
confcrcncc.All dclcgatcswclcomc.
PA€€ I
G I ' RM A NY .IOIN S I} AN
Aftcr rccciving rcns of thousandsof
l)rotcstpostcards,Gcrman Ministcr o[
lntlustry JucrgcnMcrl lcmannlurssutcd
thatGcrmanywill pushfora pcrmancnt
mining ban. Ccrmany thcrcby loins
thc growing group of nations that
supg)n a prohibition liftcd only by
conscnsus.
Forcign Affairs Ministcr Gcnschcr
cxprcsscrl his supJnrt for an Antarctic
World Park in Novcmbcr 1990,but thc
linal dccision on thc minenrls qucstion
lay with thc Ministry of lndustry. ECO
co m m ends M o c l l c m a n n fo r h i s
sultcmcnt. Thc Gcrman govcrnmcnt
clcarly rccognizcs that prorccting thc
Anurctic cnvironmcnt is more vital
rhan spcculativc cconomic intcrcsts in
thc rcgion.
.US' AND THEM
readingoftheUS
Eventhemostcasual
positian on mineralsat this meeting
revealsnumeroushalf-truthsand false
assumptions.It is, howerar,wonhwhile
to firsr lmk at thepolititzl atmospherc
fromwhichOrispolicydevelopedThose
not intimalely connectcd with the
developmenrof policy within the US,
mightwell wonderwhyrheUSposirion
d@sn't rcflect the desires of the
American people, the Congress,the
Marine Mammal Commission,or the
Administrator of the Environmental
hotection Agency (the executive
agency drarged wi0t protecting fte
environment) All of lhe abovehave,
in Orepast 12 months,indicaredtheir
supportforaprohibitiononcommercial
mineralsactivitiesin Antirctica.
So who docssupportUS policy? The
slrqrgestsupponoomesfrom thesame
agencies in the governmentwhich
recently releasedthe US strategy for
encrgy "indepcndence": the
Departmcns of lnterior and Energy.
This straagyoutlinesanenergyfuturc
thatcontinueso rcly heavilyon fcsil
fuels,andemphasises
tre necdfor securc
and reliablesourcies
to fccd the US's
?Ac1€ z
oil addiction. Tlrc dcvcloprncntof
cxploitablc oil rcscrvcsin ccologically
scnsitivc arcaslikc thc Arctic National
Wildlitc Rcfugc is kcy to Amcrica's
cncrgy "indcpcndcncc."
Thc similaritics bctwccn US Antarctic
6rlicy and it-sdomcsticcncrgy stratcgy
providcs a pcrspcctivc from which onc
c:rn bcttcr undcrsurndthc dcvclopmcnt
and pcrsistcncc o[ this now isolatcd
position. To funhcr clarify wtrat thc
position mcans, onc must rcmovc lhc
diplomatic smokc.scrccnand cxaminc
the rcalitics bchind OrcUS position.
jcwcl of CRAM RA was
clrvironrncntal
conscnsust(t opcn an arca.Dcspitcthc
fact that thcy opJxlscdthis provision
until thc bittcr cnd, thcy claimcd it
cmtxrdicdtlrcspirit of thcTrcatysysrcm
andcnsurcdany du:ision to minc would
bc agrcul by all. 'I'lrat is csscntially,
conscnsusto lift wrappcd in a mining
convcntion. Suddcnly, rcmovcd from
lhc contcxt of CRAMRA, conscnsus
h:rs lost it-sappal.
Thc opcning paragraphof rhc US paper
dcclarcs Orcircommitmcnt to rcstoring
conscnsuswithin thc Treaty systcm. A
laudable goal to bc surc, but rhe US
spcaks from both sides of irs mouth
whcn it comesto conscnsus.It is a lact
thatof thosccountrieswhich have|aken
a strong position on this issrrc, tlre
majority favour a prohibirion lifted by
consensus. Not the US: they oppose
lifting by consensus.
Not cvcn tJrcUK and US will arguc
that mining is appropnatcat this rimc.
It only makqs senscthat any changc in
this lnsition, whcthcr ir bc in 50 or 500
ycars,should bc agrccd o by all Partics.
Thc US papcr declarcs rlrcir position to
bc "a significant shifi" from thcir
position at thc I 989 ATCM, "supporting
tllc immcdratc cntry into forcc of
CRAMRA." .Thc Unircd Starcshas
always bccn a strong champion of
CRAMRA, never hiding irs inrcntion
to keep thc door to Anrarctic mining
ajar. To suggcstthat its currcnt position
represcntsa change is outrageous.
CRAMRA, on the orher hand. is a
different story altogether. During the
course of the domestic positioning
following the CRAMRA negoriarians,
US officials proudly announced !o
environmental ists
that
the
The US has proposed a dme-specihc
prohibition of no more rhan ztOyean.
linked to CRAMRA or a 'CRAMRAlike' rcgimc. Given that Antarctic
mining is unlikely to be technologically
feasible or cconomically sound before
Horpoons,drifl nels.oll pollufion.
gorboge dumps,the ozonehole...
whol will lhey lhlnkof nexl?
$r
Moybe lhey'll lind o
woy lo mell lhe lce
suchtimc - tlrc vicw of thc Officc of
Tcchnology Asscssmcnt- thc US
lnsition hasnot rcally changedat all.
This lnsition mcrely amounlsto lhc
dclaycdcntry into forceof CRAMRA.
withnoriskofforcsullingactualmining.
In an attempt to justify thcir
intransigcnccon thc mincrals issuc,
thcy have dccidcd to charge thc
with theverysameoffence,
opSrosition
that"the{lcxibility wehave
demanding
shown ncedsto be matchedby those
proJnsinga pennanentban."
The US suggessthatit is doingall the
moving - makingall Oresacrifices- in
thcsenegotiations.But, what exactly,
havetlreyoffered?TheysayCRAMRA;
however, the US did not offer up
CRAMRA -it was taken away.
CRAMRA became politically
unsaleable, domestically and
internationally,and they werc forced
rc abandon hopes of is immediate
edry into force. In truth theUS hasnot
budgedfrom its mincralspositian,ard
is policy hasjustbeenrcpackagedasa
short-term prohibition, linked to
CRAIv{RA's kin.
ECO scnds its bcst wishcs to Cath and
suggcsts to dclcgatcs at this mccting
Oratthis is furthcr proof, if proof wcrc
nccdcd. Otat Orc outsidc world now
watchcs Antarctica closcly.
GREENPEACE I99O/9I
ANTARCTIC EXPEDITION
Onccagain,thcExtpditionrcturnsfrom
thcAntarcticwith amplcdocumcntation
of cnvironmentalimpacs and failurc
to comply with cxisting Trcaty
obligations.Onccagain,we havesccn
that most counlrics cannotrun cvcn
small bascsin a clcan way.
Thc nccdfor an cffcctivc,cnforccablc,
and comprchensivcrcgime that pus
six0rAntarcticExpcdition
Grecnpeacc's
Orcprotectionof thc environmcnll-rst
hasjrst trnistted.It irrludcd thcrcsupply
is manifcst. The Anurctic dcscrves
of World Park Baseon Ross lsland,
and requircs rcal commitmentfrom
several days shadowing the Japanese
thoseat this Meeting in order to halt
whaling flect,and an exrcndedvoyagc
thcseabusesand ensureis protection
in the areaof the AntarcticPeninsula.
as the last great wildernesson earth.
At King GeorgeIsland,offtheAntarctic
Peninsula,a four-person
environmental monitoring team w:rs
installed on the Fildes Peninsulafor
onemonth. Theteamstudiedtlreimpact
of four bases(GreatWall - People's
Republic of China, BellingshausenUSSR, Teniente N[arsh - Chile, and
Artigas - Uruguay) on the local
environmenL
The expedition documented many
continuing abuses of the fuitarctic
envirurment. Among thesewere 0rc
This 'flexibility', ccording o the US,
UK's
is nccessaryo bridgethe mp betwecn
abandonedbases;dnrms leaking oil u
the nro so4all€d exremes. With
theabardmed Chileansation Gonzalez
precious few mtions still clinging o
Videlt4 a large fuel spill at Teniente
mining, thocc favouring a prohibition
N[arsh Sovier heary-vetricle tnrcksgain sqport daily. tt amears obviors
evidentthroughouttheFildesPeninsula;
thatthercis mly one'extreme'pcitbn
adump (thatnobodyatEsperanzaknew
left - thatof theUS.In ordertoachieve
anyttring about!) in the midsr of a
uuc consenils in the fuitarcric Treaty
penguin colony: medical wastes
Systan, it is this extremism whictr
irrcluding blood-n[ed synngeson the
must be abandm€d.
ground at Bellingshausen; and oilsoakedmossbedsat Arruro PratConsensus,aftcr dl, is srppcedly at
the rmt of US AntarcticFolicy!
It is nothing strortof a disgracerhar0ris
arca"oncedestinedo becornean SPA,
CONGRATULATIONS, CATH
is now littered with buildings. garbage,
vehicle trrcks and an airstrip.
New
Prominent
Zealand
andlong-rcrmASOC lv{ostbasescontinw o burn rutbistr in
environmentalist
campaiguCathWallre waspresrtcd the open, and many still put untreatcd
with the prestigious Goldman fmd scrapsout for the birds. Our final
Prizcin SanFrarisco
Environmcntal
visit was to Ecuador's new base
ycstcrday.This is fiuing reoognition lvlaldonado, which was constnrcted
of her woft on fuitarctic and New without anenvironmental impact
T,r:,larrdminingissues.
assesgnent.
UK GOVERNMENT POLICY:
DIPLOMACY OR DUPLICITY?
On 25 March,after is much-heralded
'policy review', the UK proudly
to0teBritishpblic achange
announced
in its position on the mining issue.In
yet another attempt at achieving
consensus,it would now support a
temporary moratorium on mining.
However, it world leaveopenfor this
meeting the questions of length of
moratoriumand the rnectunismwhich
would apply when it ended.
Simultaneouslythe UK circulated o
parties specific proposalsconccrning
the mechanisn, and made il lnown
privately that the UK flike 0re US)
favoureda specifrctime frameof 20 o
40 pars for 0re moratorium.Afterthis
pcriod a CRAIv{RA-like insnrnent
would still come ino force. lvlakeno
misake, the UK position regardingthe
moratorium is contingentuponsrch a
commitmenL
Frankly, it is shamefulthat ar thesame
time that it is in fact obsrncring the
achievementof a mining ban,the UK
can claim lcadershipin the moveso
protect Antarctica at homc.
It doesnot takc a mandarino calculate
that a short term morataium followed
by'Son of CRAMRA would give the
LJKprecisclywhatit wants- aoccss
to
mincrals in 0te "British Antarctic
?^ee 3
Tcrritory".
Witlr a UK gcncral clcction duc within
thc ncxt l2 months,isn't it about timc
tlrc UK came clcan with its elcctorate
on what its Anhrctic plicy rcally is?
WIIO'S WIIERE???
A pcrmancnt ban on mining in
Antarcdcaseemsnx)rcauainableUtan
cvcr, with an increasingnumber of
statcs now loking o a ban as the
appropriatcresolutionof the minerals
issue:
Gcrman Minister of lndrstry, Mr.
Moellernann,confirmedthathiscounry
would support rnthing less lhan a
permanentbanon miningin Antarctica.
The Netherlandsfavoursan indehnite
prohibition which can only be ended
with a consersrs decision. It also
requiresa oonsensu agrcementon a
legally binding mining regime before
anymineralsrctivities canstart"strould
the prohibition be liftcdNewZcaland rcmainscommitted to a
proposalforapermanentban,rc4uiring
a unanimou agrcement3oreview and
to lift the ban if $e decision is o
debatedin the future.
Japan has tablcd a proynsal calling for
a ncgoliation of a scparatcagrgcmcnt
o n mi n cral rcsourcc acti vi ti cs,
supgnning a prohibition, rcquiring
conscnsusto lift, and thc providing for
ilrc pssibility of rcvicw at somc timc
in thc futurc.
Thc US, is mainnining thc samc
instructions il had for thc SCM in
Chilc. This position amountsto a
shon-term moratorium, uckcd to
CRAMRA or an equivalcnt to bc
entcredinto forcc al theexpirationof
the mcatorium, unlesslherc is no
consensusto continuethe ban.
The U.K. is seekinga fixcd short-term
moralorium,with a reviewconference
prior to its end witr a commitmcntto
negotiarca mineralsrcgimeif desired.
Chile has tabled a paperon minerals
supportingagohibition, andspecifying
the necd for consensusto liftAustralia,Belgium,Franceand ltaly
rernain Frrm in their demand for a
prohibition, to be only altered by
otxsensrs,wi$ thepcsibility of review
aftcr 60 yean.
Brazilian PresidentCollor de Mello
has announced the Brazilian
government'ssupportfor a pennanent
mining ban.
Volumc LXXX
Numbcrl
PRODUCTIONTEAM:
Evclyn Hurwich
SusanSabclla
Rick Schwabachcr
JagdishPatcl
Maria LuisaToribio
Aurora Cardosa
Alan Hcmmings
Paul Bogart
[.cna Hagclin
JamcsMartin-Jorps
l,ouise Wright.
ECO is an occasional ncwspapcr
publishcdby FriendsofOrcEarthand
othcrs at intemationalmeetingsof
environmcntal importance. This
volume is a irint project of the
Antarctica Project, Antarctic and
Southern Ocean Coalition, and
Greenpeace International, WWF
Intemational, CousteauFoundation,
CODEFF, and ECO New Tealand.
The editaial office is at Hotel Gran
Atlanta, Comandante?nnra, 34-36.
Phons Madrid 553 59 00.
ECO is financed from nongorremmentalsources.ECO's roles
are: to provide ideasand alternative
proposalsfq the beneFrtofdelegates
to intergovernmenhl meetings; to
r€pon on and analysethe meetings;
o infmn thepublicin mdero gercrate
wide-ranging debarc;and o clarify
the issuesfor the media.
Special thanks lo the CS Fund,
Schcrman Foundation, Tlueshold
Formdetion,GrcerperceInternational
ard WWF lntemadoml.
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