Derek Oyen/Unsplash
Protecting Antarctica: Argentine-Chilean Environmental Diplomacy in the Southern Ocean
Overview
Argentina and Chile are gateways to Antarctica and important stewards of the frozen continent. Since 2011, the two countries have collaborated on efforts to establish a marine protected area (MPA) through the Commission for the Conservation of Antarctic Marine Living Resources, an international body responsible for protecting the Southern Ocean, home to some of the world’s most biodiverse marine habitats.
The Southern Ocean is facing unprecedented environmental pressures amid worsening impacts of the climate crisis. Troublingly, scientists warn that El Niño will intensify these warming trends, accelerate ice loss in Antarctica and increase global sea-level rise. To confront these threats, Argentine and Chilean diplomatic efforts are in overdrive to protect the Western Antarctic Peninsula; at an international conference in Santiago next month, member states will vote on the MPA proposal from Argentina and Chile, as well as on two other proposed MPAs in the Weddell Sea and East Antarctic.
Please join the Wilson Center’s Latin America Program, Polar Institute, and Environmental Change and Security Program on Wednesday, June 14 at 10:00 a.m. to 11:00 a.m. (ET) to discuss the international debate over marine protection in Antarctica and the importance of the Southern Ocean to biodiversity, multilateral environmental cooperation and scientific research.
Speakers
Marcelo Leppe
Mercedes Santos
Maximiliano Bello
Senior Advisor, Mission Blue
Andrea Capurro
Hosted By
Latin America Program
The Wilson Center’s prestigious Latin America Program provides non-partisan expertise to a broad community of decision makers in the United States and Latin America on critical policy issues facing the Hemisphere. The Program provides insightful and actionable research for policymakers, private sector leaders, journalists, and public intellectuals in the United States and Latin America. To bridge the gap between scholarship and policy action, it fosters new inquiry, sponsors high-level public and private meetings among multiple stakeholders, and explores policy options to improve outcomes for citizens throughout the Americas. Drawing on the Wilson Center’s strength as the nation’s key non-partisan policy forum, the Program serves as a trusted source of analysis and a vital point of contact between the worlds of scholarship and action. Read more
Polar Institute
Since its inception in 2017, the Polar Institute has become a premier forum for discussion and policy analysis of Arctic and Antarctic issues, and is known in Washington, DC and elsewhere as the Arctic Public Square. The Institute holistically studies the central policy issues facing these regions—with an emphasis on Arctic governance, climate change, economic development, scientific research, security, and Indigenous communities—and communicates trusted analysis to policymakers and other stakeholders. Read more
Environmental Change and Security Program
The Environmental Change and Security Program (ECSP) explores the connections between environmental change, health, and population dynamics and their links to conflict, human insecurity, and foreign policy. Read more
Thank you for your interest in this event. Please send any feedback or questions to our Events staff.
