Introduction
The Protocol on the Environmental Protection to the Antarctic Treaty, or the Madrid Protocol, was adopted in 1991. It designates Antarctica as ‘a natural reserve, devoted to peace and science’ (ATS, 1991, Article 2). The Protocol prohibits all activities relating to Antarctic mineral resources, except for scientific research. Described as ‘an extraordinary achievement in international diplomacy’, (U.S. Department of State, 2016) it provides a comprehensive environmental protection framework, by consolidating environmental measures into a single agreement under the Antarctic Treaty. There are some exceptions to the general premise that the Protocol applies to all Antarctic activities: emergencies, activities undertaken in the Treaty area pursuant to the Convention for the Conservation of Antarctic Marine Living Resources (CCAMLR) or the Convention for the Conservation of Antarctic Seals, and ‘passing-through voyages and flights’ (Bastmeijer, Reference Bastmeijer2003, pp. 123–125).
The Madrid Protocol has six Annexes that focus on the following: environmental impact assessment, the conservation of Antarctic flora and fauna, waste management, marine pollution, area protection and management, and liability arising from environmental emergencies. According to Article 11 and Article 12 of the Madrid Protocol, the Committee for Environmental Protection (CEP) provides advice and recommendations to the Antarctic Treaty Consultative Meeting (ATCM). The CEP is comprised of the Treaty member states that are also signatories to the Protocol (Triggs & Riddell, Reference Triggs and Riddell2007).
Russia has always considered Antarctica to be a region of a special national interest. It was among the first countries to sign the Madrid Protocol and immediately initiated the process for the approval procedure focusing on the state level. Furthermore, the protection of the Antarctic environment is considered when planning any human activity that is to be conducted in the Antarctic Treaty area by the Russian Federation.
Russia ratified the Madrid Protocol (Federal Law no. 79 of 24 May 1997) on 11 December 1998 (Kotlyakov, Moskalevsky, Lukin, & Klepikov, Reference Kotlyakov, Moskalevsky, Lukin and Klepikov2007; Shatunovskaya-Burnod, Reference Shatunovskaya-Burnod and Tamburelli2008). Although the Russian (until 1992, Soviet) Antarctic Expedition (RAE) had been cooperating with the Scientific Committee on Antarctic Research (SCAR), the Council of Managers of National Antarctic Programs (COMNAP) and other organisations long before the Madrid Protocol entered into force upon signature (Wratt, Reference Wratt2013). Russia's ratification and subsequent participation in CEP demonstrated significant evolution of the environmental attitudes and practices in the national institutions involved in Antarctic activities.
The environmental attitudes during the early years of the Soviet Antarctic operations are well-documented in the accounts of Alexei Fyodorovich Treshnikov (or Alexey Fyodorovich Tryoshnikov) (1914–1991), who led several Arctic and Antarctic expeditions of the heroic age. Visiting a colony of giant petrels at the site where the Bellingshausen Station was later built, he was shocked by the severe conditions of the petrel chicks’ nursery and asked the station builders to ensure as little disruption as possible to these ‘big birds loving limitless space, freedom and solitude’. However, despite the building project the birds continued to use their nesting spot at the top of the hill.
For twenty days while the station was being built they stayed here, but the question remains will they return to breed there next year? It is unlikely (Treshnikov, Reference Treshnikov1985, p. 384).
The natural environment was respected and the polar explorers generally tried to limit the harm caused, but large-scale operations, construction work and research were the priorities. The lack of environmental management schemes and adopted standards was widespread among all Antarctic stations regardless of nationality. The second author remembers meeting with a Greenpeace expedition on King George Island (South Shetland Islands) in 1989 when environmental activists photographed dump sites at the polar stations, including Bellingshausen Station. Since then the Madrid Protocol has played a tremendous role in changing concepts and the practices of all Antarctic Treaty nations, including Russia. This paper reviews some of the most important aspects of the implementation of the Madrid Protocol by the Russian Federation, which receive little attention in the literature and are not widely known, even in Russia.
This paper is based on data collected from the multiple literature sources and official documents submitted by Russia to the ATCMs since 1991, the year that the Protocol was adopted. The research was carried out during a six-week, full-time internship at the Secretariat of the Antarctic Treaty (Buenos Aires, Argentina) in 2016.
Russia in Antarctica today
The Russian Federation plays a major role in the CEP, always contributing to its sessions. Furthermore, the country participates in the study and monitoring of the polar regions. The Russian Federation attended the first SC-CAMLR/CEP meeting (the Joint SC-CAMLR/CEP Workshop 2009), which provided an opportunity for improved understanding of the roles and responsibilities of these two committees and several opportunities for improved cooperation in the area of environmental protection were identified (ATS, 2009). At CEP IX, the Russian Federation along with several other countries (Brazil, China, Germany and the Republic of Korea) introduced working paper 22 ‘Possibilities for environmental management of Fildes Peninsula and Ardley Island. Proposal to establish an intersessional contact group’. This paper described a three-year research project (2003–2006) designed to provide data to fully evaluate the role and structure of a possible broad-scale management system in the designated area (ATS, 2006a).
Russia carried out intensive meteorological, oceanographic, glaciological, geophysical, geological and biological investigations during the IPY 2007–2008 (Gavrilo, Dmitriev, Danilov, & Klepikov, Reference Gavrilo, Dmitriev, Danilov and Klepikov2010). Currently (2017), Russia maintains five year-round stations (Bellingshausen, Novolazarevskaya, Mirny, Vostok and Progress) and six field bases (Molodezhnaya, Druzhnaia, Leningradskaya and Russkaya); two of which were former year-round stations (Leningradskaya and Russkaya) that were closed in 1990 and reopened in 2008 as sites for automatic meteorological and geodesic data collection. Environmental protection activities are based on the solid research with works scheduled at all of them, and conducting research while on board the research vessels. While actively encouraging and engaging in various partnerships, Russia also recognises the importance of strengthening international cooperation in the field of environmental protection.
For instance, from December 2016 to March 2017, scientific teams from all over the world were scheduled to board the Russian RV Akademik Tryoshnikov for an Antarctic circumnavigation expedition. Since 1970, the deep drilling in the Antarctic ice sheet at the Vostok Station can be recognised as another example of international partnerships. It should be noted that the Russian Federation pays attention to the possible and recent environmental impacts of deep drilling under the extreme conditions to the pristine waters and fragile ecosystems of Lake Vostok (ATS, 1996a, 1998a). Papers submitted on this issue are used as a basis for the discussion during ATCM and CEP meetings. For instance, the drilling was stopped about 130 m from the lake, as soon as several delegations of the twentieth ATCM considered that the value of future studies could be compromised in a case of accidental pollution (ATS, 1996b). The international discussions on this issue continued and parallel to them, in 1999, the Russian Federation started the project Justification and development of the ecologically clean technology for penetrating the subglacial Lake Vostok (Bastmeijer, Reference Bastmeijer2003).
According to federal law, all Russian Antarctic stations and research ships are required to be supplied with appointed authorised representatives of the Russian Federation in the Antarctic Treaty area. In addition, the Commission on the Consideration of the Applications for Activity of Russian Individuals and Legal Entities in the Antarctic Treaty Area was established to make decisions on permit applications for Antarctic activities and grants permits based on submitted documents including an environmental impact assessment.
Among the priorities of current RAE activities is the investigation of the anthropogenic impact on the Antarctic environment. The nature protection measures undertaken at the Russian Antarctic stations are determined by the strategy and long-term planning of RAE activity in respect of nature protection set forth in both the subprogramme Study and research of the Antarctic of the Federal programme World ocean and in the state programme Environmental protection, 2012–2020.
Legal aspects
There are two types of international treaty in the Russian doctrine of international law – a direct effect within the country's territory and a requirement for adoption at a national level (the Protocol requires all Parties to establish a system for the implementation of its provisions at a national level). The country focuses on the domestic level, in both initiative-giving and in implementing commitments agreed through international cooperation. After the ratification of the Madrid Protocol, there was an absence in the Russian legislature of legal standards regulating the activity of Russian citizens and legal entities in the Antarctic (ATS, 2007a). First, the Decree of the Government of the Russian Federation no. 1580 of 18 December 1997 guaranteeing the fulfilment of provisions of the Protocol on Environmental Protection to the Antarctic Treaty was produced. Then, Decree no. 1476 of 11 December 1998 established a procedure for applications for Russian activities in Antarctica and the Commission on the Consideration of the Applications for Activity of Russian Individuals and Legal Entities in the Antarctic Treaty Area for considering such applications (ATS, 2003; Shatunovskaya-Burnod, Reference Shatunovskaya-Burnod and Tamburelli2008). On 5 June 2012, the Russian Federation adopted a Federal Law On regulation of activity of the Russian citizens and the Russian legal entities in the Antarctic (ATS, 2008). This Federal Law has created a legal basis for the Government of the Russian Federation to ratify Measure 4 (2004) Insurance and contingency planning for tourism and non-governmental activities in the Antarctic Treaty area, Measure 1 (2005) Annex VI to the Protocol on Environmental Protection to the Antarctic Treaty: liability arising from environmental emergencies and Measure 15 (2009) Landing of persons from passenger vessels in the Antarctic Treaty area, which was endorsed by the Decision of the Government of the Russian Federation of 27 March 2013 No. 273 On measures adopted by the Antarctic Treaty Consultative Meetings (ATS, 2013a).
Prior to the 25th Anniversary of the Protocol, the Russian Federation submitted the paper ‘Preconditions for adopting the Protocol on Environmental Protection to the Antarctic Treaty’ at the ATCM XXXIX in Chile. The paper focused on the extraordinary role of the Protocol in the implementation of practical activities in the region. This document brought into focus the idea that the protection of the Antarctic environment should be connected with the development of international law on this issue at a global scale. Among other things, the paper highlighted the significance of the Convention on the Regulation of Antarctic Mineral Resource Activities.
Environmental monitoring
Russia actively encourages other Parties to participate in international cooperation on environmental monitoring; thus, for instance, a consortium of scientists from Portugal, Chile, the Russian Federation, Germany and the UK evaluated the natural and anthropogenic sources of trace elements (As, Cd, Cu, Zn, Pb and Hg) in soil and moss samples collected from different sites on Fildes Peninsula and within the Antarctic Specially Protected Area (ASPA) no. 150 Ardley Island, Maxwell Bay, in January 2013 (ATS, 1992a; 2016a).
Analysis of ice cores obtained from deep drilling of the Antarctic ice sheet at Vostok Station is one of the most well-known and successful projects of our planet palaeoclimate study. However, contamination of subglacial lake water with drilling fluid components is an environmental concern. A series of discussions on the issue have been taking place during the ATCMs since researchers have faced the problem. The current state of the study has been presented by the Russian Federation in the paper ‘Solution of the problem of influence of Freon clathrate hydrates in the drilling fluid on lake water purity in the deep borehole at the Russian Vostok Station’ submitted to the ATCM XXXIX (ATS, 2016d). Scientists have paid attention to the processes involved in potential environmental pollution and have investigated the physical processes in the borehole at Vostok Station in order to prevent the occurrence of such environmental pollution in the future.
In 2012, the Russian Federation and the USA conducted two phases of a joint inspection in Antarctica (ATS, 2013b). During the environmental monitoring, the team visited six different stations twice and highlighted the importance of such cooperation. Annually, Russia reports on the following activities undertaken in compliance with Article 17 of the Madrid Protocol: legal and administrative actions, environmental impact assessments and evaluations, exchange of information regarding flora and fauna, waste management plans, permits to work in the Antarctic Specially Managed Areas (ASMAs) and ASPAs. Until now, international monitoring of population dynamics in birds on Fildes Peninsula have been carried out based on studies conducted in the 1970–1980s by German scientists. According to Article 6 of the Madrid Protocol on cooperation during concerted activity in Antarctica and the efficient use of possibilities for international operations, conducting joint logistic, scientific and environmental projects becomes increasingly topical. Great efforts have been made toward improving international cooperation. The first attempt to join efforts of the RAE and QUARK Expeditions to conduct a project on ecological study and monitoring in Antarctica was made during First Full Tourist Circumnavigation cruise in the austral summer 1996/1997 (ATS, 1997). In addition, a long-term scientific programme launched by RAE observing the major ionic composition of fresh snow and firn in order to monitor the ozone layer and greenhouse gases has been running for several decades. In addition, inspections of Russian-flagged vessels are undertaken in accordance with Article 7 of the Antarctic Treaty and Article 14 of the Madrid Protocol on a regular basis. For instance, Akademik Sergey Vavilov, a polar research vessel owned and operated by P.P. Shirshov Institute of Oceanography within the Russian Academy of Sciences (IO RAS), was inspected in 2014–2015 (ATS, 2015a).
Clean up of abandoned stations
The Madrid Protocol requires that past and present work sites be cleaned up unless removal would result in a greater adverse environmental impact than leaving the contaminant in its existing location. After the collapse of the Soviet Union some of the Russian Antarctic bases were abandoned with no clean up, and items left behind included equipment, buildings and fuel. Recommendation I-XIII ‘Exchange of information on nuclear equipment and techniques’, adopted at the first ATCM in Canberra (Australia) in 1961, indicated that
[T]aking into consideration the provisions established in Article V of the Antarctic Treaty, the Representatives recommend to their Governments that they exchange by all means deemed advisable information on the application of nuclear equipment and techniques in the Treaty area. (US Department of State, 2002).
On 14 June 2013, a Protocol to the Multilateral Nuclear Environmental Program in the Russian Federation (MNEPR) between the US and Russian governments was signed (ATS, 2015c). The Protocol included activity for the removal of radioisotope thermoelectric generators (RTGs) from the Russian Antarctic stations and their subsequent disposal at specialist plants. The USA contributed significant funds toward this joint project and on 23 May 2014 the Material Support Agreement No. B606989 between the Arctic and Antarctic Research Institute (AARI) of Roshydromet and the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) was signed in order to implement the Antarctic provisions of the Protocol. In 2014–2015, all required work was performed in strict compliance with the schedule prepared by LLNL: two RTGs from the Molodezhnaya field base, an RTG from the ice barrier of Novolazarevskaya Station, one RTG from Dome B and four smaller sources of ionising radiation from Mirny Station were loaded on board RV Akademik Fedorov for further utilisation. Supervision of the required work was performed by representatives of the LLNL and the US Department of Energy. Another example of this kind was the removal of AN-3T aircraft from Amundsen Scott South Pole Station – it was transported beyond the Antarctic Treaty area and delivered to its base. This operation allowed the Russian Federation to fulfil its requirements under the Madrid Protocol, both with respect to ensuring ecological safety measures and to the issues of removing different operational facilities from the Antarctic (ATS, 2005a; 2012b).
In 1996, an environmental team, whose main goals were to repair fuel tanks and buildings, dismantle old buildings and equipment, remove rubbish dumps and clean up, began work at Bellingshausen Station (ATS, 1998b). The station and adjacent territory were cleaned up and the waste was prepared for removal within six years. However, RV Akademik Fedorov did not supply Bellingshausen Station that year, so the RAE considered different ways of removing the waste from Antarctica, including cooperation with external organisations. The RAE had previously worked successfully with the Alfred Wegener Institute (Germany) on a joint waste removal project from Schirmacher Oasis (Novolazarevskaya Station) (ATS, 2001a). The first example of cooperation with a non-governmental organisation (NGO) was during in 1995–1996 summer when the Canadian organisation View Foundation worked at Bellingshausen Station under RAE management (ATS, 1996c). The NGO volunteers were mostly involved in rubbish collection at the station. As a result, 20 fuel barrels and 500 m of old fuel hoses were removed from Antarctica on board a ship operated by the Marine Expedition tour operator. In 1998, an NGO Mission Antarctica worked in the area carrying out operations in accordance with the RAE environment management plan including dismantling old buildings and equipment, aerologic waste disposal, removal of fuel barrels and cleaning up the territory. At the final stage of the project (summer 2001–2002) the Danish cargo vessel Anne Boye was chartered by Mission Antarctica to transport waste from Antarctica, including scrap from Artigas (Uruguay), Frei (Chile) and Arctowski (Poland) stations (ATS, 2002). In 2000–2001, waste disposal operations were carried out from Mirny, Molodezhnaya, Novolazarevskaya and Progress stations (ATS, 1996c; 2000a; 2000b; 2000c; 2000d; 2001b).
Measures related to the reduction of harmful pollution caused by fossil fuel use are based predominantly on advanced energy saving technologies and renewable energy sources, such as solar and wind, low-potential heat of ocean and others (ATS, 1999). Since the 1990s, Russian research institutes have been working on the implementation of ‘green’ technologies at Antarctic stations, including piloting solar and wind installations at Molodyozhnaya and Novolazarevskaya stations, and mathematical models have been developed for Vostok Station (ATS, 1996a).
Initiatives
During the ATCMs, the Russian Federation raises international awareness on environmental protection in the polar regions on a regular basis (ATS, 2016b). For instance, Russia presented the paper ‘On the problems of approval of Annex VI “Liability arising from environmental emergencies” to the Protocol on Environmental Protection to the Antarctic Treaty’ in Sofia in 2015 (ATS, 2012a; 2015b). In the paper, the Russian Federation expressed its concern over the procedure of approval of Annex VI by all Consultative Parties because of the need to introduce additions and/or amendments into the effective national legislation. In addition, Russia previously participated in reviewing Annex II of the Protocol related to conservation of Antarctic fauna and flora, and proposed improvements to measures designed to prevent environmental damage in Antarctica (ATS, 2005b; 2006b; 2007b; 2015b). Previously, the Russian delegation proposed to coordinate efforts of countries/parties in the creation of the united centre to provide information assistance in the marine pollution response operations taking place in the Antarctic waters in cooperation with the World Meteorological Organization (WMO), Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission (IOC) and International Maritime Organization (IMO) (ATS, 1994). In addition, different nations in collaboration with the RAE saw benefits in a combined approach in offering representative sites for environmental monitoring, such as in the Larsemann Hills region (ATS, 1992b).
Recently, the Russian Federation submitted a proposal for declaring 2020 the Year of Antarctica and developed a draft plan of events, which also includes projects on carrying out nature protection measures at the seasonal Molodezhnaya field base (ATS, 2016c).
Acknowledgements
This work was supported by the Secretariat of the Antarctic Treaty. E. Uryupova would like to thank Dr Manfred Reinke for the opportunity to intern at the organisation. She is also thankful to José María Acero and the Secretariat team for their help, and thoughtful and constructive comments which improved the manuscript.
Financial support
This research received no specific grant from any funding agency, commercial or not-for-profit sectors.
Conflict of interests
None.
