Hopes for Giant New Antarctic Marine Sanctuary Dashed

Hopes of establishing a vast new marine sanctuary in pristine East Antarctica have been dashed, with a key conservation summit failing to reach an agreement as advocates called for "greater vision and ambition."

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Expectations had been high ahead of Saturday's annual meeting of the Commission for the Conservation of Antarctic Marine Living Resources (CCAMLR) — a treaty tasked with overseeing the protection and sustainable exploitation of the Southern Ocean.

Last year's summit in Hobart prompted the establishment of a massive U.S.- and New Zealand-backed marine protected area (MPA) around the Ross Sea, covering an area roughly the size of Britain, Germany and France combined.

But a push led by Australia and France this year to create a second protected area in East Antarctica, which would have spanned an additional one-million-square-kilometer zone, ultimately failed.

A consensus was needed from all 24 CCAMLR member countries and the European Union, but several members said they were concerned about compliance issues and fishing rights.

Greenpeace responded by calling for "greater vision and ambition" in the coming year, while WWF Antarctic Program Chief Chris Johnson said it was another missed opportunity. "We let differences get in the way of responding to the needs of fragile wildlife," he said.

Australia's chief delegate, Gillian Slocum, described the failure as "sad". Slocum bemoaned the lack of progress in addressing the impacts of climate change, which she said was having a "tangible effect" on the frozen continent.

"While CCAMLR was not able to adopt a Climate Change Response Work Program this year, members will continue to work together ahead of the next meeting to better incorporate climate change impacts into the commission’s decision-making process," she said.

Plans were set out in 2009 to establish a series of MPAs in the Southern Ocean allowing marine life to migrate between areas for breeding and foraging, but progress has so far been slow.

Andrea Kavanagh, head of The Pew Charitable Trusts' Antarctic and Southern Ocean work, said after last year’s historic Ross Sea designation it was "disappointing that CCAMLR could not agree to protect more of the vast and biologically diverse Southern Ocean."

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Kavanagh said it was vital to "continue moving forward in the coming years by agreeing to further protections... or risk jeopardizing the health of the region’s intact ecosystems."

A third German-backed plan is in the works to protect the Weddell Sea, which extends from the southeast of South America over some 2.8 million square kilometers, but it has been sent back for amendments.

A proposal for a fourth zone of 94,000 square kilometers around the Western Antarctic Peninsula was presented by Argentina and Chile, reported AFP.

The East Antarctica plan originally comprised seven large marine areas, but was reduced to three as a compromise: MacRobertson, Drygalski, and the D'Urville Sea Mertz region.

The plan was for D'Urville to be a no-catch zone, which the WWF said would aid a stricken Adelie penguin colony near the French Antarctic research station.

Mass starvation wiped out thousands of chicks in the colony this year: unusually thick sea ice linked to the break-up of the Mertz glacier forced their parents to forage further for food. Only two survived.

Meanwhile, world leaders are expected to meet at the annual 195-nation climate summit in Bonn, Germany, from Nov. 6 to 17 to work on a “rule book” for the 2015 Paris plan to shift the world economy from fossil fuels this century.

The U.S. administration will take part despite Trump’s decision in June to pull out from the Paris climate deal and instead focus on promoting the U.S. fossil fuel industry, a move which prompted a backlash from several participating nations. The Paris pact stipulates that no country can formally pull out before November 2020. 

“The Trump regime really needs to walk away and not hold the rest of the world hostage to the president’s ineptitude,” said Ian Fry, who represents Tuvalu, a low-lying Pacific island nation susceptible to rising sea levels and storm surges.

This year is on track to be the second warmest since records began in the 19th century, behind 2016. Scientists say rising temperatures will cause ever-more powerful hurricanes, floods and wildfires.