Flashback: Antarctic Treaty comes into force, making it the world’s first nuclear-free zone

Thursday, 21 June 2018

The Antarctic Treaty, signed in the midst of the Cold War, established that Antarctica could be used only for peaceful purposes. Ruby Macandrew looks back at New Zealand's role in helping protect and preserve the icy continent.

Delegates of the Antarctic Treaty visit the South Pole (1972-73)

Today Antarctica is known for its diverse wildlife, picturesque scenery and scientific riches. However, had it not been for the 1959 Antarctic Treaty, things might have looked a lot different at the bottom of the world.

As a claimant to the Ross Dependency, New Zealand was one of the 12 original parties to the multilateral agreement which sought to ensure Antarctica would be 'used exclusively for peaceful purposes and shall not become the scene or object of international discord'.

The short and straightforward treaty document, which came into force on June 23, 1961, consisted of 14 articles which outlined what could and could not be carried out on the continent.

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At the time of the signing, New Zealand was the only claimant state prepared to surrender its territorial claims in Antarctica, with Prime Minister Walter Nash stating he would 'have wished to see the conference agree on a more imaginative and more adventurous approach to the problems arising from claims to sovereignty in Antarctica'.

Despite his offer not being taken up, Nash, along with representatives from Argentina, Australia, Belgium, Chile, France, Japan, Norway, South Africa, the UK, the US and the USSR, signed on the dotted line during a conference in Washington DC.

Treaty flags in front of Scott Base in 1982. Photographer unknown.

Professor Karen Scott, head of law at the University of Canterbury, says the United States' support of the treaty, which effectively banned all military activity on the continent, came as something of a surprise at the time.

'This was negotiated at the height of the Cold War, and, only a few years before, the US had suggested Antarctica be used as an area for testing nuclear weapons so this [treaty] was a remarkable turnaround and a way of maintaining balance and control of the main powers at the time.

'The decision was taken to make it nuclear-free, so under Article 5 no nuclear explosions were permitted and nuclear waste couldn't be disposed of either.'

While that decision was one that ultimately benefited the Antarctic environment in the long term, Scott says the treaty fell short in several other ways.

'The Antarctic Treaty itself didn't have a huge amount to say about protection of the environment, which seems surprising nowadays when we think of environmental protection being fundamental in Antarctica.

'[However] post-1959, the suite of Antarctic measures has been developed significantly to address marine resources in particular, as well as environmental protections,' she says.

The Antarctic Treaty does not recognise any sovereign nation's claim to any part of the Antarctic territory; instead it promotes international co-operation while enabling each party to preserve its position on questions of territorial sovereignty.

New Zealand's Scott Base, which was opened in 1957, was established as part of the country's commitment to the Commonwealth Trans-Antarctic Expedition (1955-58) and the International Geophysical Year (1957-58).

'The treaty essentially allowed the seven states with claims, plus the other states, to all work together.'

Since it came into force 57 years ago, the treaty has since acceded to dozens of other nations. The total number of parties is now 53.

The 12 original parties to the agreement, alongside other parties conducting substantial research activity in Antarctica, are known as the 'consultative parties' to the treaty.

Each year, they attend an Antarctic Treaty Consultative Meeting (ATCM), at which they exchange information, consult on Antarctic matters of common interest and agree on measures to support the treaty's principles and objectives.

The treaty remains hugely significant, says Scott, 'with the principles within it just as relevant as when it was signed in 1959, particularly around things like de-militarisation and a dedication to peaceful purposes'.