Desarrollo de la Antártica

Brian Roberts I INTERNATIONAL COOPERATION FOil. ANTARcrIC ••• from any country. AH particip:mts may submit documents and make statements, The ScientificCommittee on Antarctic Research (SCAR). A third kind of meeting is organized outside government círcles. SCAR, as we have heard at this meeting, is an organization which can provide quite independent (non-government) scienllific advice Wlhen requested by the Antarctic Trea¡ty Consultative ¡Parties. SCAR plays a most important part in co-ordinating the researcn programmes of each of the national organizations. But we must remember IJhat its functions are purely advisory. SCAR possesses no executive authority. In this lies the chid source of its strong influence. SCAA could be very quickly destroyed if it gets involved in politics. Government 'bave been ínviting SCAR to undertake moreand mO're studies, some of which are very expensive and cannO't be undertaken with SCA..lt'S limited resO'urces. lf this work is to be cO'ntinued and expanderl, it seems that governments will need tO' consider whether they can give some financia! assistance to National Antarctic Committees. Tlhese three kinds of meeting have 50' far served O'ur common purposes quite well. It is my personal belief that they will continue lO' do so for some time, although it may soon ¡prove essential to hold Consultative Meetings more ht::quently than at two-year inter– vals. AIso, 1 think t'bat the idea of Meeting of Experts will probably have to be developed to deal with special problems as they arise. lt may even be necessary to create some standing committees to dcal with matters like resource exploitation. What J am suggesting ii; that we do not yet really need <in Antarctic Treaty Secretariat. This may well become necessary at a later stage, but we have not yet reached the time when it is essential. This is an extremely controversial question. Some of the gO'vernments concerned have not yet been able to bring themselves even to discuss this subject in open debate. This reluctance is understandable. There are great difficulties about the Iocation of any Secretariat and how it couId be kept sufficiently small tobe effective. These difficulties will increase enormously when more governments qualify to become Consultative Parties to the Treaty. My mind boggles at the thought of 144 members of the United Nations trying to make realistic áecisions about Antarctic matter~. It seems essential Ilhat the group of natiO'ns responsible should be kept smallenough to be efficient, and should also be restricted to those nations which are activeIy engaged in and possess experience 363