Treaty Nations

The General Conference on Weights and Measures (CGPM) meets every 4 years and makes additions to, and changes in, the international system of units (SI).3 A select group of 18 internationally recognized scientists from the treaty nations is the International Committee of Weights and Measures... 

As mentioned previously, there are some significant implications for both academic and corporate institutions as a result of non-compliance with the treaties, national laws and professional guidelines that have been established for the acquisition of genetic resources and traditional knowledge since the introduction of the CBD. 

The Antarctic Treaty has become a model for international cooperation among nations whose objectives elsewhere in the world may conflict with those of other Treaty Nations. The diplomatic precedents established by the Antarctic Treaty are at least as important as the results of the on-going scientific research in Antarctica. Among other benefits, the Antarctic Treaty has served as a model for the Law of the Sea (Joyner 1992) and for the treaty ... Governing the Activities of States in the Exploration and Use of Outer Space adopted by the United Nations in 1963 (Faure and Mensing 2007). 

In addition, the seasonal population of McMurdo Station continued to grow which increased the demand for water. For that reason, the US Congress in 1960 authorized the construction of a nuclear-fission reactor in order to provide power for the desalination of seawater. The components arrived on December of 1961 and were installed in a building that was erected at a site on the slope of Observation Hill above the station (Fig. 2.9). This reactor, which was put into operation in March of 1962, provided the power required to operate a desahnation plant that converted seawater into fresh water (Neider 1974). However, in spite of the technological snperiority of this process, water continued to be in short supply and had to be rationed. Matters came to a head when the representatives of the Antarctic Treaty Nations determined that the nuclear reactor violated the Treaty and therefore had to be shut down, dismantled, and all parts of it had to be removed from Antarctica. The Office of Polar Programs (OPP) did what was required and all radioactive waste was shipped to CaUfomia The nuclear installation was replaced by a desahnation plant that is energized by fuel oil. The capacity of the present facility based on reverse osmosis is sufficient to provide an adequate... 

Visitors to Pole Station like to have their picture taken beside a barber pole topped by a silver globe surrounded by the flags of the Treaty Nations (Fig. 2.13). This pole is not at the precise location of the geographic South Pole because the East Antarctic ice sheet is sliding on its base which means that the true position of the South Pole must be redetermined annually. 

The vigorous discussion of the issues raised by CRAMRA made many people aware of the value Antarctica has for scientists and tourists and of the environmental damage that would result from mining operations no matter how well they were regulated. Two of the original treaty nations (France and Australia) refused to ratify CRAMRA and thereby prevented it from being adopted. 

Some of the provisions of CRAMRA that dealt with environmental protection were used to frame the Protocol of Environmental Protection to the Antarctic Treaty. Article 7 of the Protocol prohibits all activities relating to mineral resources except for the purpose of scientific research. In this way, the Treaty Nations have been prohibited from mining and drilling for oil since 1991 when the Protocol to the Antarctic Treaty went into effect. In addition, the Protocol now guides all activities undertaken by the US Antarctic Program (Section 2.9). The text of the Protocolon Environmental Protection can be read in the book published by Stonehouse (2002, Appendix D). 

The harsh climate and remote location of present-day Antarctica have shielded it from the exploitation of its natural resources except for whales, seals, and fish in the Southern Ocean. The natural resources of Antarctica include the ice that covers most of the continent, large deposits of bituminous coal, and as yet unexplored reservoirs of petroleum and natural gas. In addition, Antarctica is known to contain large deposits of iron ore in the Prince Charles Mountains and in the Dufek Massif which may also contain titanium, vanadium, and chromium. None of these deposits has yet been exploited because the cost of production is likely to exceed the value of the materials that are recovered, because of the danger of serious accidents in a hostile environment, and because of the unavoidable but undesirable contamination of the environment. Last but not least, the governments of the Antarctic Treaty Nations have prohibited all activities relating to mineral resources in Antarctica. 

North Adantic Treaty Organization (NATO) MiUtary Committee Conference of National Armaments Dkectors 1110 Bmssels, Belgium... 

As of 1995, there were no nuclear fuel reprocessing plants operating in the United States. Other nuclear nations have constmcted second- or third-generation reprocessing faciUties. These nations have signed the nuclear nonproliferation treaty, and the faciUties are under the purview of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA). 

In addition, under the Nonproliferation Treaty, which most larger nations have signed, the IAEA monitors plutonium from power reactors so as to detect covert diversion. 

International copyright treaties foUow the principle of national treatment. Each member country treats nationals of other countries at least as weU as it treats its own nationals. 

Copyright Taws and Treaties of the World, Unesco, Paris, and Bureau of National Affairs, Washington, D.C., 1990. The complete text of every country s copyright statute. 

The Montreal Protocol of July 1987 resulted in an international treaty in which the industrialized nations agreed to halt the production of most ozone-destroying chlorofluorocarbons by the year 2000. This deadline was hastily changed to 1996, in February 1992, after a U.S. National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) satellite and high-altitude sampling aircraft found levels of chlorine monoxide over North America that were 5i % greater than that measured over Antarctica. 

Cramer, H. E., Improved techniques for modeling the dispersion of tall stack plumes. "Proceedings of the Seventh International Technical Meeting on Air Pollution Modeling and Its Application." North Atlantic Treaty Organization Committee on Challenges of Modern Society. Pub. No. 51. Brussels, 1976. (National Technical Information Service PB-270 799.)... 

Turner, D. B, Zimmerman, J. R., and Busse, A. D., An evaluation of some climatological dispersion models, in "Proceedings of the Third Meeting of the Expert Panel on Air Pollution Modeling." North Atlantic Treaty Organization Committee on the Challenges of Modem Society Pub. No. 14. Brussels, 1972. (National Technical Information Service PB 240-574.)... 

A different system applies to the creation oflegislationat EU level. The EU is based on a series of treaties between member states, which are comparable to constitutional law at national level. Three institutions are involved in the creation of EU law (i) The European Gommission (ii) The Council of the European Union and (iii) The European Parliament. 

One of the conclusions from the 1992 United Nations Conference on Environment and Development in Rio de Janeiro (the Earth Summit) was the urgent need to find a more sustainable way of life, based on careful use of resources and a reduction in environmental emissions. There was also a call to move towards a model in which environmental enhancement is fully integrated with economic development. The consequences of this summit have been far-reaching not least by the fact that, in Europe and elsewhere, environmental protection requirements are now integrated into many policies rather than being separate pieces of legislation. Indeed Article 2 of the EC treaty states that the Community shall. .. promote throughout the Community harmonious, balanced and sustainable development of economic activities This may be viewed as the first step towards... 

When the United Nations tried to negotiate a treaty banning hazardous substances in 1999, medical authorities argued passionately for continuing the use of DDT, despite its harm to wildlife. They argued that only small amounts of DDT are used today the entire nation of Guyana, for example,... 

There are several international treaties and agreements administrated by the United Nations which limit specific chemicals. 

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