Death of a Treaty: The Decline and Fall of the Antarctic Minerals Convention

• Main Author: Waller, Deborah C.
• Format: Text
• Language: unknown
• Published: Scholarship@Vanderbilt Law 1989
• Subjects: regulation of Antarctic mineral resources; Antarctica; Minerals Convention; International Law; Natural Resources Law; Oil; Gas; and Mineral Law; Antarctic; The Antarctic; New Zealand; Antarc*
• Online Access: https://scholarship.law.vanderbilt.edu/vjtl/vol22/iss3/4; https://scholarship.law.vanderbilt.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=2083&context=vjtl

On June 2, 1988, in Wellington, New Zealand, thirty-three states signed the Convention on the Regulation of Antarctic Mineral Resources. This agreement, the product of six years of negotiation, fills a significant gap in the Antarctic Treaty System: it provides rules governing the prospecting, exploration, and development of minerals in Antarctica. Recently, however, two Antarctic Treaty Consultative Parties--France and Australia--have refused to ratify the Minerals Convention, instead advocating a permanent ban on mineral activities in Antarctica. Their opposition thwarts plans for the ratification of the Minerals Convention. This Note provides an overview of the present Antarctic Treaty System, sets forth the provisions of the Minerals Convention in detail, and discusses the Convention's strengths and weaknesses. Finally, this Note outlines the events that led to the collapse of the Convention.