Helsinki Antarctic meeting culminates in agreement on climate declaration

The nearly two-week long Antarctic Treaty Consultative Meeting (ATCM) in Helsinki ended successfully last week. It brought more than 400 Antarctic experts from 56 countries and key global climate and environmental organisations to Helsinki. The meeting had a constructive atmosphere, and global tensions were mostly overlooked. However, no agreement was reached on new consultative members.

The Marina Congress Centre in Katajanokka provided an excellent maritime venue for reflections on supporting Antarctica and protecting its marine environment amid the rapid changes caused by climate change.

Helsinki Declaration on Climate Change and the Antarctic

The ATCM adopted a declaration on climate change on the last day of the meeting, on 8 June 2023. The Helsinki Declaration on Climate Change in the Antarctic was one of the key objectives of the Helsinki Antarctic meeting. Finland chaired the negotiations, and it is a significant achievement to get the declaration adopted. The declaration highlights the need for urgent climate action, and it is likely to serve as a reference for future ATCMs.

Strong focus on managing Antarctic tourism

Another significant achievement of the meeting was the decision to establish a dedicated process to develop a comprehensive framework for managing Antarctic tourism. The topic will be high on the ATCM agenda in India in 2024.

The meeting gave its strong support to Article 7 of the Protocol on Environmental Protection to the Antarctic Treaty prohibiting mineral resource activities for other purposes than scientific research. The special plenary session on the implementation of the IMO Polar Code, co-hosted by Finland and Argentina, highlighted the importance of measures improving the safety of shipping in the Arctic and Antarctic regions and called for effective enforcement of the Polar Code.

The number of women involved in Antarctic policy-making, science and operations is growing strongly. On Finland’s initiative, the ATCM in Helsinki gave its strong support to measures strengthening equality, inclusion and the use of gender-neutral language.

The number of women involved in Antarctic policy-making, science and operations is growing strongly. On Finland’s initiative, the ATCM in Helsinki gave its strong support to measures strengthening equality, inclusion and the use of gender-neutral language.

A number of side events were held in the margins of the ATCM meeting. They presented Finland’s research in Antarctica and our versatile expertise in operating in cold conditions. Meeting participants had the opportunity to learn about Finland’s ice-breaking expertise and research on ice conditions.

At the end of the meeting, Finland published a host country communiqué highlighting the main results of the meeting.

India will host the next ATCM meeting on 20–30 May 2024. Finland will not be hosting the meeting again until 2025 at the earliest.