El Doctor en historia Peder Roberts, analizará cómo el cambio climático afecta al sistema internacional que brinda gobernanza al continente austral: el Sistema del Tratado Antártico. El investigador principal del Instituto Milenio BASE, y académico de la Facultad de Derecho de la U. de Chile, Prof. Luis Valentín Ferrada moderará el encuentro, que se desarrollará en modalidad híbrida (física y virtual).
After a successful negotiation of the International Geophysical Year (IGA) of 1957-1958, it was in 1959 when the Antarctic Treaty was adopted in Washington D.C., United States, which entered into force in 1961. This agreement enshrines Antarctica as a continent for peace and scientific research. During the following decades, the international system regulated aspects such as environmental protection, the exploitation of living resources, tourism and non-governmental activities that are current regulations up to date.
The Scientific Committee on Antarctic Research (SCAR) has warned in its latest report about the global impact of climate change in Antarctica, due to the increase in carbon emissions and other greenhouse gases. “This process will continue to affect the atmosphere and the Southern Ocean, with decisive consequences on the Antarctic and sub-Antarctic ecosystem,” the organization points out, and encourages the international community to take action.
To contribute to the reflection on the effects of climate change on the Antarctic Treaty System, international legislation, activity and scientific knowledge, Dr. Peder Roberts, on an academic visit to Chile, will hold the conference “Climate change: does it threaten the Foundations of the Antarctic Treaty System? The instance will seek to link the History of Antarctic Science with an analysis of the international system, and the effects of climate change on the sixth continent.
Peder Roberts is a Ph.D. in History (Stanford University), an Associate Professor at the University of Stavanger (Norway) and a researcher at the Division of History of Science, Technology and the Environment at the KTH Royal Institute of Technology (Sweden). He is one of the co-chairs of the Standing Committee on Humanities and Social Sciences of the Scientific Committee onAntarctic Research (SCAR) and leads the European Council Research project “Greening the Poles: Science, the environment and modern creation of the Arctic and Antarctica” (2017-2022).
The keynote speech will be held in English on June 16th, 2022 at 12:30 p.m. The meeting will take place in a hybrid mode, with virtual participation via Zoom (prior registration) and face to face participation at the Matilde Brandau room of the University of Chile Law School (Santa María 076, 6th floor, Santiago ).
Photographs and text: BASE Millenium Institute/ N.Politis