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exploration and development in Antarctica and to govern any such activities.[1] Treaty members felt that it would be more difficult to agree on such a regime after actual finds have been made. The negotiations in many ways are an expression of the idea that prevention is better than cure, forethought preferable to afterthought.
101. Antarctica is an enormous continent where claims to sovereignty are in dispute and where there are no agreed legal bases for issuing licence8. leasing or selling mineral rights, or receiving royalty payments. These delicate questions have now been raised and will not lie silent until they nave been answered within an internationally agreed framework. Until these matters are resolved. and protection of the Antarctic environment is assured, it seems unlikely that any nation or group of nations will be able to invest securely in developing the continent's mineral resource.[2]
102. Given the absence of technologies tested in the ultimate extremities of Antarctic conditions, the lack of agreement on procedures to assess and take account of the impacts of any development, and the sparse data base, it could take a generation or more of educated research and technological development to ensure that minerals exploitation would not destroy the Antarctic's fragile ecosystem and its place in global environmental processes. Thus it is important that no minerals activity takes place until these conditions have changed, and then only in consonance with a regime that guarantees imlementation of the most stringent standards needed to protect the continent's environment and share the proceeds equitably.
3. Promote Evolution of Antarctic Treaty System
103. In the years ahead, activities in Antarctica will expand in kind and scale. as will the numbers of participants in such activities. Further efforts must be made to ensure effective management of those activities and an orderly, expansion of participation in such management. A variety of options are being discussed by the international community. More effective management, including expanded participation, could evolve gradually through the existing Treaty System. But given the extent of probable change and the lure of mineral wealth. however remote, such an approach could be too slow to retain political support. Another is that the above goals might be reached through the negotiation of an entirely new system. However, neither of these approaches would be free of difficulty. Yet another alternative would be to intensify efforts to make the Treaty System more universal, more open. and responsive to expressions of concrete and legitimate concern and interest in Antarctica.
4. Establish a means for more Effective Communication
104. As activities under the different treaties increase, so does the importance of coordination among the advisory and decision-making authorities responsible for various areas.
