CONFIDENTIAL
ANTARCTIC ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION BILL
At the recent Special Consultative Meeting of Antarctic Treaty Parties in Madrid, a single text of a draft Environ-
mental Protection Protocol to the Antarctic Treaty was
elaborated. It is the intention of the Consultative Parties
to conclude negotiation of this Protocol in Madrid on 23 June. If this happens, we would wish to retain the possibility of acting quickly to sign the agreement, enact the necessary legislation and ratify the Protocol.
The UK has been wrongly portrayed in the media as the
principal country blocking progress on the protection of
Antarctica. It would help our cause, and restore public
faith, if we were seen to act quickly to bring into force any
agreement. Certainly there will be pressure from the NGOs such as Greenpeace and WWF, who have been highly critical of our position, for us to ratify the agreement without delay.
The need for a slot in the Legislative Programme for
an Antarctic Environmental Protection Bill in the 1991/92
legislative programme is, therefore, probably of greater importance and priority now than when we put forward the
bid, and I would request that the place be retained.
Polar Regions Section
South Atlantic and Antarctic Department
PR3ABH
CONFIDENTIAL
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