MPs hold evidence session on the geopolitics of Antarctica
Marking its first evidence session since returning from Antarctica, the Environmental Audit Sub-Committee on Polar Research will be examining the geopolitics of the continent with academics and polar scientists.
Meeting details
Members will wish to examine the impact of the causal effects of climate change – such as the loss of sea ice – and what impact they may have on the wider geopolitical picture of Antarctica. They will also likely cover the Antarctic Treaty System, its environmental protections, and how it interacts with other international bodies to protect Antarctica, such as the International Maritime Organisation’s Polar Code and the Biodiversity Beyond National Jurisdiction Treaty.
Further issues on which the members will wish to hear the witnesses’ thoughts are infrastructure and strategic competition. They will likely ask whether global tensions are threatening the ‘Antarctic spirit of cooperation’, and to what extent increasing international strategic competition is affecting Antarctica, including the role of research bases and ships in both science and geopolitics.