Russia and China must 'join conservation', US says at Antarctic Commission meeting in Hobart

The United States has urged China and Russia to "join conservation" and stop blockading nearly 4 million square kilometers in new marine protected areas around the 'Antarctica.

Speaking at a major international Antarctic conservation meeting in Hobart, US Assistant Secretary of State Monica Medina said that the two countries had blocked the creation of three new protected areas in Antarctic waters "for too long" and that it was time to "shake up the system".

Medina said the declaration of protected areas in East Antarctica, the Weddell Sea and around the West Antarctic Peninsula had been recommended p ar scientists and supported by other member states of the Commission for the Conservation of Antarctic Marine Living Resources - but China and Russia were st in the way.

"It's time for these two countries to drop their objections and side with conservation," she told the Guardian.

"We have no time to waste, and the fact that parties are here means it's a priority, and Antarctica is a priority.

"Even as we oppose Russia's heinous war in Ukraine, we must use our chances in bodies like this to make progress on issues that are important to the health and well-being of people everywhere. this planet."

The first day of the commission meeting, which lasted fifteen days, was disrupted when nearly 20 member countries walked out in a sign of protest while a member of the Russian delegation spoke. An Australian Antarctic Division official said Monday's walkout was intended to demonstrate "strong support for Ukraine" and a total rejection of Russia's "unilateral, illegal and immoral invasion".

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Commission chairman Dr Jakob Granit said the meeting of the 26 countries and the EU with all members present was a geopolitical success, given that two of the parties were at war. He told a press conference that a deal on marine protected areas "could be difficult" despite conservation proposals having been planned for years and based on "scientifically sound" evidence.

"Not all members are seeing the full value of this right now," Granit said.

But Medina said countries who showed up at the annual meeting were not enough." We will continue to push to make progress here and do our best to put in place the conditions that would allow full consensus on the establishment of marine protected areas this year - and if not at this meeting, in this year," she says.

Australian Environment Minister Tanya Plibersek said that increasing the number of marine protected areas around Antarctica was a priority to ensure the conservation of ecosystems and species and to help cope with the impacts of climate change.

"Protecting the Antarctic environment is protecting the future of the planet," she said.

The commission, kno wn as Ccamlr (pronounced 'camelar'), was created by international treaty and has met in Tasmania since 1982. It has had only occasional successes - including a landmark agreement to create a 1.5 million square kilometers in the Ross Sea.

Several other protected areas have been delayed...