The purpose of the Bill is to:
Implement Annex VI of the Environmental Protocol to the Antarctic Treaty (commonly known as the Liability Annex) into UK law; and so help ensure the future protection of the Antarctic environment. We also intend to bring the Antarctic Act 1994 up to date and align it with our current international priorities and commitments
The main elements of the Bill are:
To require UK Antarctic operators (governmental and non-governmental) to take preventative measures to reduce the risk of environmental emergencies, establish contingency plans, and to take prompt and effective response action to environmental emergencies arising from their activities.
The Annex also establishes financial liability on the operator in the event of its failure to take response action. This liability is to reimburse the costs of the response action taken by the Government of an Antarctic Treaty Party or, where no response action was taken by anyone, the costs of the action that should have been undertaken.
The main benefits of the Bill are:
To implement the Annex into UK legislation and so provide essential safeguards for the future protection and conservation of the Antarctic environment. Implementation of the Annex will uphold the UK’s commitments to the Antarctic Treaty and enable us to bring in a suite of other essential changes to the Antarctic Act 1994. The Annex is effectively a “polluter pays” mechanism and is primarily designed to act as a deterrent for those who might operate irresponsibly in Antarctic waters. Introduction of the Annex will promote and improve operating standards in Antarctica.
