Abstract

LORENZO, Cristian; SEITZ, Ana  and  NAVARRO-DRAZICH, Diego. Marine Protected Areas as a Matter of International Policy: The Scenario of the Commission for the Conservation of Antarctic Marine Living Resources. rev.relac.int.estrateg.segur. [online]. 2019, vol.14, n.1, pp.57-71. ISSN 1909-3063.  https://doi.org/10.18359/ries.3421.

In 2016, the Commission for the Conservation of Antarctic Marine Living Resources (CCAMLR) created a Marine Protected Area (MPA) in the Ross Sea. The purpose of this article is to know the United Kingdom, the United States and New Zealand stance on this decision, regarding the impacts global warming on the Antarctic geopolitics and the discussions on the establishment of new MPAs in the CCAMLR's scope. A qualitative methodology was used for this purpose through an inductive approach. Documents and materials published by the CCAMLR and by the three countries mentioned above were analyzed. Everything was supplemented by performing semi-structured interviews with key actors.

The paper concludes that the stance of the United Kingdom, the United States and New Zealand on the CCAMLR, when a MPA was designated in the Ross Sea, requires understanding the context of the political impact of global warming on Antarctic geopolitics and the debates to designate new MPAs. It is also necessary to consider the strategic interests of these countries in the CCAMLR's area of application, their views on the MPA debate, the geopolitical component of their relevant strategies for marine conservation of biodiversity and, finally, the impacts of changes in international policy on existing environmental commitments.

Keywords : International institutional agreements; environment; conservation of biodiversity; international organizations; natural resources.

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