TY - JOUR
T1 - The continental, the hemispheric and the global Antarctica
T2 - Southern perspectives of climate change and the governance of Antarctica
AU - Cardone, Ignacio Javier
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
© 2022 Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group.
PY - 2022
Y1 - 2022
N2 - The present paper seeks to examine southern perspectives on climate change and their effects on Antarctica. Following that objective, the paper analyses, from a theoretical/philosophical and historical perspective, three different images of Antarctica that have played key roles in shaping the governance of the continent. Thus, I distinguish between the idea of a continental Antarctica, characterised as exceptional and isolated; the idea of a hemispheric–or regional–Antarctica, which relates to the vicinity of the southern hemisphere countries, their environmental identity with the southern polar regions and the more direct and immediate linkages between the Antarctic and the southern countries’ environments; and the idea of a global Antarctica, which stress the planetary dynamics that interlink the continent with the global phenomena. Whether the Antarctic Treaty and the evolution of the Antarctic Treaty System seem to have incorporated those different images successfully, the evolving and increasing phenomenon of climate change has stressed the idea of the global Antarctica as opposed to the continental Antarctica, disregarding the image of the hemispheric Antarctica. That could lead to efforts to widen or even open up participation in the regime, an option that most likely would confront a strong rebuttal from existing southern member countries, in particular from those that hold territorial claims upon Antarctica. As a conclusion, I argue that any successful attempt to address the global problem of climate change needs to take into account the perspectives of the southern countries and their particular identity/links with the Antarctic region, including their environments; and that any possible governance framework would need to accommodate the three disparate visions of Antarctica in order to be successful and ensure that the Antarctic remains free from strong political discord and conflicts.
AB - The present paper seeks to examine southern perspectives on climate change and their effects on Antarctica. Following that objective, the paper analyses, from a theoretical/philosophical and historical perspective, three different images of Antarctica that have played key roles in shaping the governance of the continent. Thus, I distinguish between the idea of a continental Antarctica, characterised as exceptional and isolated; the idea of a hemispheric–or regional–Antarctica, which relates to the vicinity of the southern hemisphere countries, their environmental identity with the southern polar regions and the more direct and immediate linkages between the Antarctic and the southern countries’ environments; and the idea of a global Antarctica, which stress the planetary dynamics that interlink the continent with the global phenomena. Whether the Antarctic Treaty and the evolution of the Antarctic Treaty System seem to have incorporated those different images successfully, the evolving and increasing phenomenon of climate change has stressed the idea of the global Antarctica as opposed to the continental Antarctica, disregarding the image of the hemispheric Antarctica. That could lead to efforts to widen or even open up participation in the regime, an option that most likely would confront a strong rebuttal from existing southern member countries, in particular from those that hold territorial claims upon Antarctica. As a conclusion, I argue that any successful attempt to address the global problem of climate change needs to take into account the perspectives of the southern countries and their particular identity/links with the Antarctic region, including their environments; and that any possible governance framework would need to accommodate the three disparate visions of Antarctica in order to be successful and ensure that the Antarctic remains free from strong political discord and conflicts.
KW - Antarctic Treaty System
KW - Antarctica
KW - climate change
KW - environment
KW - Southern countries
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85129684303&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1080/2154896X.2022.2062556
DO - 10.1080/2154896X.2022.2062556
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:85129684303
SN - 2154-896X
VL - 12
SP - 62
EP - 87
JO - The Polar Journal
JF - The Polar Journal
IS - 1
ER -