Antarctic environment pact imposes damage liability

Anyone who damages Antarctica’s pristine environment must now pay to clean it up under a new pact, a senior New Zealand official said today.

The pact was adopted after 12 years of negotiations by the 45 member countries of the Antarctic Treaty in Stockholm, Sweden, yesterday, said Foreign Minister Phil Goff.

Known as the Liability Annex, it imposes real liabilities on nations and commercial operators for the first time since the Antarctic Treaty was signed in 1959, turning the continent into the only large area on the planet where no state has sovereign control.

“It’s a vital step forward in protecting the pristine environment of the Antarctic,” Goff said.

There has been concern among Antarctic Treaty states that growing commercial tourism in the region will eventually cause an environmental disaster, with perhaps a tour ship sinking near the coast.

The pact requires operators to “take prompt action when environmental emergencies arise from their activities”.

If an operator fails to take such action, it allows others to do so and to recover their costs from the defaulter.

It also requires all operators in the region to carry enough insurance to meet their obligation to clean up the damage caused, and put in place prevention measures against a further accident.

“By its very nature the annex acts as a deterrent” and a safeguard, said foreign ministry legal specialist Jennifer McDonald.

“But in a worst-case scenario that there is an oil spill or something ghastly … there is a real incentive for prompt response action to be taken and people can’t just … go: ’Oh, too hard,'" she said.

If that occurs, others can step in to fix the crisis and seek compensation from the offender, she added.