Non-state actors in the Antarctic treaty system

207 Pages·2014·9.29 MB·English

NON-STATE ACTORS IN THE ANTARCTIC
TREATY SYSTEM
MAKING HERESY ORTHODOX
BY Andrew Darby, B.A., Dip. ASOS (Hons)
submitted in fulfilment of the requirements for the degree
of
Master of Arts (Antarctic and Southern Ocean Studies)
at the University of Tasmania
November, 1994
(i
)
•
©7- ITA:':,V=.•
1.513`ARV •
55 “4- t.5
This thesis may be made available
for loan and limited copying, in
accordance with the Copyright Act
1968.

4-CL
This thesis contains no material which has been
accepted for the award of any other degree or diploma
in any tertiary institution. To the best of my knowledge
and belief, this thesis contains no material previously
published or written by another person, except where due
reference is made in the text.
p,x
7
Andrew Darby.
November 1994
ABSTRACT
In the period 1988-9, Antarctica's previously little troubled governing
regime, the Antarctic Treaty System, descended into the most significant
discord in its history with the rejection of the agreed Convention to Regulate
Antarctic Mineral Resource Activities and its eventual replacement by the
Protocol on Environment Protection containing a limited mining ban. This study
argues that non-state actors were the driving force behind the defeat of
CRAMRA. These actors, in the form of environment promotion non-
government organisations, successfully substituted many of the objectives they
sought, which were at odds with the regime and encapsulated in the notion of a
"world park".
The study focusses on the role of non-state actors in the world today. It
examines who they are in the Antarctic context and what attributes may prove
important in their exercise of influence over the Antarctic Treaty System. It then
uses the case study described above to test which attributes proved important in
the exercise of influence in this period. Finally it considers what cautionary
lesson lies therein for the operation of international regimes.
It is the thesis of this work that under some circumstances, non-state actors
can be a decisive influence in forcing a change upon states acting together in an
international regime. This conflicts with the political Realist's view that only
states actually possess the power to accomplish political change, and non-state
actors can do little more than encourage new directions. Instead it aligns with
the political Rationalist's belief that allows non-state actors to be a customary
part of the action in decisions made by international regimes. This study
argues that it was the "heretics" outside the ATS who gained legitimacy with the
wider public, and through individual government apparatuses. In contrast the
ATS, which brought CRAMRA to fruition in a closed and little known
negotiating process, failed to have this convention approved because it lacked
legitimacy. The ATS found that the world was prepared to adopt the non-state
alternative.
The work begins with a theoretical review of authorities' views on non-state
actors, their links with international regimes, and the state system of
government. It continues with what is believed to be the first attempt to
catalogue non-state actors involved with the ATS, a process that is carried out
along a common typology. The case study is then examined in two distinct
phases divided by the watershed of the agreement of CRAMRA. In the first
phase we see the rise of environmentalism and non-state interest in Antarctica
paralleling the rise of CRAMRA. In the second phase, the death of CRAMRA
and birth of the Protocol on Environment Protection are examined through the
prism of non-state activity in a sequence of five key countries. Finally, the
study draws conclusions about the methods of change employed by non-state
actors, attributes that made some of them more influential than others, and the
overall influence of non-state actors on states in the ATS.
(iv)
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
I wish to thank my supervisor, Associate Professor Richard Herr,
for his continual patient vigilance, and my associate supervisor, Associate
Professor Bruce Davis, for his encouraging comments.
To the subjects of numerous international telephone interviews who
gave their time at inconvenient and strange hours, I express my gratitude.
To Sally Johannsohn I am indebted for her support and tolerance.
(v
)
CONTENTS
INITIALS AND ACRONYMS viii
QUOTATIONS ix
INTRODUCTION
CHAFFER ONE: A THEORETICAL REVIEW
(I) Political influence and the state-centric model 2
(II) Non-State Actors in the global system 4
(III) Actors in the non-state world 7
(IV) The character of NGOs 9
(V) International regimes and their formal NGO linkages 13
(VI) NGOs'strength in international decision-making 17
(VII) The rise of environmental NG0s. An analytical perspective 22
(VIII) Chapter conclusions 27
CHAPTER TWO: A SURVEY OF ANTARCTIC NGOs
(I) Chapter introduction 30
(II) The Antarctic Treaty System 31
(III) Parameters for a typology 33
(IV) Key Non-state Actors and the ATS
Scientific Committee on Antarctic Research 35
The World Conservation Union 42
World Wide Fund for Nature 46
Antarctic and Southern Oceans Coalition 49
Greenpeace International 52
World Resources Institute 56
The Cousteau Society/Fondation Cousteau 58
International Association of Antarctic Tour Operators 60
Friends of the Earth International 63
Nationally-oriented NG0s, e.g. CODEFF 64
(V) Comparing Relative Strengths of NGOs active in the ATS 66
(VI) Chapter Conclusions 68
CHAPTER THREE
A CASE STUDY (1)
THE RISE OF ENVIRONMENTALISM AND OF CRAMRA
(I) Introduction 72
(II) The global context 73
(III) Early approaches to the ATS by NGOs 76
(IV) Establishment of a campaign 82
(V) NGOs move on ATS forums 88
(VI) External NGO challenges to ATS legitimacy 91
(VII) The non-state challenge consolidates 96
(VIII) Chapter conclusion 100
(vi)
CHAPTER FOUR
A CASE STUDY (2)
THE DEATH OF CRAMRA AND BIRTH OF THE PROTOCOL ON
ENVIRONMENT PROTECTION
(I) Introduction 105
(II) Non-state action on individual states
Australia 107
France 120
New Zealand 126
United Kingdom 132
United States of America 138
(III) Chapter conclusion 155
CHAPTER FIVE
CHANGING AN INTERNATIONAL REGIME
CONCLUSIONS
(I) Introduction 161
(II) Methods of change 162
(III) Influential non-state actors 165
(IV) The influence of non-state actors on states in the ATS 168

APPENDIX: A CHRONOLOGY OF EVENTS 1988-91 172
BIBLIOGRAPHY 178
SOME INITIALS AND ACRONYMS
ATCM - Antarctic Treaty Consultative Meeting
ATCP - Antarctic Treaty Consultative Party
ATS - Antarctic Treaty System
CCAMLR - Convention (and Commission) for the Conservation of Antarctic
Marine Living Resources
CRAMRA - Convention on the Regulation of Antarctic Mineral Resource
Activities
NCP - Non-Consultative Party
NGO - Non-government organisation
PEP - Protocol on Environment Protection. The Madrid Protocol.
SCM - Special Consultative Meeting
it is very clear that any refusal by the Treaty members
to hear and to reason with their critics could result in an
up-surge of rhetoric or mischief on the part of some
organisations. In effect, the consultative parties have it
within their power to prevent or to provoke a stronger
reaction from the heretics..."
- Sir Anthony Parsons, Antarctica - The Next Decade 1987
"You've got to have a dream,
if you don't have a dream,
how are you going to make
your dream come true?"
- Oscar Hammerstein II
"Happy Talk" South Pacific 1949