ATCM45: Key Reflections and First Climate Action Day

Antarctica: ATCM XLV – CEP XXV in Helsinki, Finland
Released by ICCI on June 14, 2023

The 45th Antarctic Treaty Consultative Meeting (ATCM) began on May 29 in Helsinki, Finland; along with the associated advisory body, the Committee for Environmental Protection (CEP) meeting in its 25th session. The Antarctic Treaty includes primarily those nations engaged in active research on the Antarctic continent or Southern Ocean, though others may attend as observers or invited experts. In Helsinki, delegates from 41 countries and numerous scientific, intergovernmental and non-governmental organizations gathered, with the Finnish hosts organizing the first-ever Climate Day with a joint plenary of the two bodies on June 2. The Antarctic and Southern Ocean Coalition (ASOC) represents civil society and the global environmental community at ATCM meetings; ICCI’s main role as part of ASOC is to share the latest science related to Antarctic ice loss, Southern Ocean acidification, and sea level rise with policy makers.

June 1: AMI Side Event on the Global Importance of Antarctica
On the eve of Climate Day, the Ambition on Melting Ice (AMI) high-level group led a side event featuring cryosphere scientists, with invited representatives from several low-lying countries who are highly vulnerable to sea level rise, including several not signatories to the Treaty but concerned about the impacts of increasingly rapid warming on the Antarctic Ice Sheet and future sea level rise. The main presentation, by leading Antarctic scientist and Muse prize winner Dr. Timothy Naish, New Zealand addressed the latest science around the fate of the ice sheet and related sea-level rise with continued high fossil fuel emissions. A presentation by ICCI’s Antarctica Director Dr. Lydie Lescarmontier made it clear that rapid acidification in the Southern Ocean is already pushing marine polar ecosystems towards an irreversible threshold at 450ppm.

June 2: First “Climate Day” Joint Session
The Antarctic Treaty hosted its first-ever Climate Day on June 2, a full-day ATCM/CEP joint session on climate change. The session was opened by among others, WMO Secretary-General Dr. Petteri Taalas and IPCC WGI Co-Chair Dr. Valérie Masson-Delmotte; herself an Antarctic scientist. Dr. Steven Chown (SCAR President 2016-2021) provided key recommendations from the SCAR ACCE Decadal Synopsis published last year. “What happens in Antarctica does not stay in Antarctica,” said Dr. Masson-Delmotte, reflecting on the latest IPCC Synthesis Report. Speakers underscored the necessity of increasing ambition and action to limit the escalation of climate-related risks as ice melts.

Conclusions
CEP25 concluded on June 1 and adopted its report addressing a wide range of topics, including the conservation of Antarctic flora and fauna, specially protected and managed areas, procedures for countries to assess their environmental impacts of their Antarctic activities, enhanced environmental monitoring, reporting and more.

The Helsinki Declaration on Climate Change and the Antarctic was adopted only on June 8, after a week and a half of sometimes-contentious discussions. In the Declaration, Parties raised concerns about irreversible ice sheet loss and the catastrophic impacts of rising sea levels, particularly on millions of people living in low elevation coastal zones across the globe. Delegates recognized the “critical role of Antarctica and the Southern Ocean in the global climate system,” and made clear the importance of urgent emissions reductions to limit global temperature rise to reduce further irreversible impacts. As stated in the Declaration, “with the current trajectory of CO₂ emissions, the atmosphere and oceans will continue to warm and the oceans to acidify, atmospheric and ocean circulation patterns will continue to alter and the cryosphere will continue to lose ice in all forms, and sea levels will continue to rise.”