Antarctic Bill

Mark Simmonds Excerpts

Friday 18th January 2013 Commons Chamber

[Neil Carmichael]

That is absolutely right. One interesting point about new clause 1—this is one reason why we should not support it—is that more and more nation states are showing an interest in Antarctica. That brings pressure in respect of challenges to the Antarctica environment as well as numbers. Some of the new arrivals are not as interested as we are in making sure that the area is properly protected and that responsible actions are taken. By passing this legislation, we apply international pressure, ensuring that other nation states that need to do the same get on with the process and that the international focus on what is important for Antarctica—the protection of the continent—continually remains a top priority.

Amendment 1 deals with historic sites and monuments. It is an interesting amendment and it is right to discuss it because it provides an opportunity to make a very important point. The point is that the provisions relate to who is doing something, not to where the action is being taken. If we wanted to take action to preserve the hut of Captain Robert Scott and his colleagues, the fact that it is in what might be described as the New Zealand slice of Antarctica would not prevent us from doing so. As we would be going there to preserve the hut, British law would apply to our efforts to ensure that it was looked after properly.

While I have a huge amount of sympathy with the thrust of amendment 1, and while I think that the hon. Member for Bury North is absolutely right to remind us that we need to have the capacity to deal with all monuments and sites of historical interest, it is with the British people, and those connected with Britain, that clause 15 deals, and they are more than welcome to pursue such priorities throughout the continent of Antarctica. I therefore do not think that the amendment is necessary, although I do think that it has given us a useful opportunity to reinforce the point that everyone in our jurisdiction would be covered by the clause. Indeed, as the Bill’s promoter, I have welcomed the opportunity to comment on all three of what I consider useful amendments—not because I think that they should be included in the Bill, but because the House has been able to discuss them all properly and make some important points.

Let me summarise those points. With regard to the cost-benefit analysis proposed in new clause 1, the Bill is financially neutral. I do not think we should add any extra burden of bureaucracy, but I do think we should make it clear that the real test is co-operation between all interested nation states in ensuring that the continent is properly protected, and ensuring that the measures on which we continue to work are properly supported and implemented by all of them. That is the test that I shall continue to press for beyond the passage of this Bill, because I believe it is critical.

The main issue in relation to amendment 2, which proposes the removal of clause 5, is that we are building on existing measures—and quite right too. It is good that the House has had an opportunity to test the validity of the clause, because it is important. It will ensure not only that there is a line of responsibility for operators, visitors, tourists and so on, but that they must have contingency plans. In the absence of those two measures, such people would make themselves vulnerable to punishment. The clause also includes the important provision that people and organisations should be properly insured for whatever they may do. The clause puts into domestic law a clear set of responsibilities for operators visiting Antarctica.

As I have already made abundantly clear, amendment 1, which refers to historic sites and monuments, is unnecessary, because clause 15 relates to the people who are doing something rather than where the action is taken. However, it has provided another useful opportunity for me to make it clear that we are taking responsible action, and enabling others to take responsible action, in protecting monuments and sites of historical interest.

Let me end by expressing my gratitude for the opportunity that the debate has given us so far to expose and develop some of the elements of the Bill.

[The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs (Mark Simmonds)]

I congratulate my hon. Friend the Member for Stroud (Neil Carmichael) on getting the Bill to this stage, and I thank him for the time and trouble he took to visit Antarctica and his determination and commitment to securing environmental protection in the Antarctic.

I shall begin by setting out the overriding architecture of the protections currently in place for the Antarctic, as there seems to be some confusion about that. The Antarctic treaty was signed in 1959 by 21 countries. It has several purposes.

[Mr Deputy Speaker (Mr Nigel Evans)]

Order. May I say to the Minister, as I have said to other Members, that we are talking about new clause 1 and the amendments, not the wider Bill?

[Mark Simmonds]

I am grateful, Mr Deputy Speaker, for your guidance. I was trying to put the implications of new clause 1 into context. The Antarctic treaty has 50 signatories, and the UK is one of the core 28 countries that play a positive role, and we intend to continue to do so.

I shall turn now to the amendments. On new clause 1, I say to my hon. Friend the Member for Bury North (Mr Nuttall) that the Government have prepared and made available a full impact assessment for this Bill. The impact assessment was independently reviewed by the Regulatory Policy Committee, which determined it was fit for purpose and that the costs and benefits of the Bill had been adequately assessed.

The most likely monetised costs to arise from the Bill were identified as additional premiums for insurance cover, which my hon. Friend rightly mentioned, and one-off costs to any operators who will need to update their equipment or plans to deal with an environmental emergency. The insurance industry was consulted, and it was suggested that additional insurance premiums to cover the costs of responding to an environmental emergency would probably either be minimal or non-existent. My hon. Friend the Member for Stroud made that point. Given the level of insurance already required by operators and vessels in Antarctica, it was suggested that that was the case for both small and large operators.

The one-off costs to operators of updating their equipment or plans was also deemed small, given that the vast majority of UK operators already meet the requirements.

[Oliver Colvile]

Has my hon. Friend considered how many people might want to visit Antarctica, and what the various consequences might be?

[Mark Simmonds]

My hon. Friend makes a good point. We have carefully assessed the number of scientists and tourists who might visit Antarctica, and if my hon. Friend is patient, I will address his point in detail later.

It is also essential to ensure compliance with the Bill’s provisions. As that will be achieved through the existing permitting system, the additional administrative costs will be negligible.

One non-monetised cost of the Bill might be that operators adjust their plans to avoid highly sensitive or remote areas. Training time may also be needed in respect of any equipment obtained for potential response action. Again, however, such non-monetised costs are not expected to be significant. The main non-monetised benefit is that the Bill will reduce the likelihood of an environmental emergency occurring in the Antarctic through effective forward planning and providing a deterrent to potential irresponsible behaviour. The Bill will also reduce the environmental damage caused by any environmental emergency that does arise; simplify permitting procedures for non-UK nationals; and improve the conservation and preservation of UK historic monuments and sites in Antarctica.

--- Later in debate ---

[Oliver Colvile]

Last night, I was at the Royal Geographical Society attending a reception and talk by a number of the military who had just come back from a trip to Antarctica. If new clause 1 was introduced, would it not do quite a lot of damage by discouraging the military from going down there and doing research? What about those scientists who go down, too? Will it have an impact on them?

[Mark Simmonds]

My hon. Friend makes a very good point. He will be aware that one of the exclusions under the Antarctic treaty concerns military operations in the Antarctic, although we have a presence there. We have a rescue vessel in case anything goes wrong and aspects of the Navy are there in relation to the Falkland Islands and the assistance we provide to them. There might well be problems for scientific research and the military if new clause 1 were implemented, which is one of the reasons I hope that my hon. Friend the Member for Bury North will withdraw it.

[Philip Davies]

I take the Minister’s point on new clause 1. If there is no cost-benefit analysis, post-legislative scrutiny or whatever we want to call it, how will the Government assess whether the Bill is effective or whether we need to put more measures in place to protect the Antarctic?

[Mark Simmonds]

I am grateful to my hon. Friend for giving me the opportunity to clarify that point. We believe that the best place to do that analysis on an ongoing basis is under the architecture of the Antarctic treaty and at the Antarctic council, where the UK plays a significant, positive and engaged role. If opportunities emerge from that analysis in the future to add additional environmental protection with the agreement of all the other members of the Antarctic council, we will consider it extremely closely.

[Philip Davies]

Is the Minister saying that the Antarctic council will effectively be carrying out the kind of cost-benefit analysis that my hon. Friend the Member for Bury North (Mr Nuttall) has in mind in his new clause? If the Minister is saying that, all well and good, but I was not entirely sure that that was what he was saying.

[Mark Simmonds]

The Antarctic council, as well as the UK as an important part of that council, will assess the whole gamut and remit of the working of the Antarctic treaties and the Bills that have come out of the protocols that developed out of the 1959 agreement, the 1961 treaty, the 1994 Act and the protocols agreed in 2005. I can give my hon. Friend the assurance that there will be continual assessments, but the assessments the Government have made in the run-up to the Bill demonstrated, as I said earlier, that there will be no significant additional costs or detrimental impact on UK businesses or scientific operations as the Bill is structured.

Let me address the second set of remarks made by my hon. Friend the Member for Bury North on amendment 1 to clause 15, which relates to historic sites and monuments as provided for under annex V of the protocol on environmental protection to the Antarctic treaty. It is important to note that any party may propose a site or monument of recognised historic value for such designation to the Antarctic treaty consultative meeting. As the Antarctic treaty system operates on the basis of consensus, the agreement of all Antarctic treaty parties is needed for such a designation to be approved. Once approved, the proposed site is added to the approved list of historic sites and monuments, which is kept updated by the Antarctic treaty secretariat. As Members will no doubt recognise, the designation of historic sites and monuments and the protection that affords them under the Antarctic treaty and subsequent protocols is of extremely high importance to the United Kingdom, as we have significant historical ties with and have taken a significant interest in the Antarctic since Captain Scott’s visit there. It is important on this day to recognise the bravery and commitment of those early explorers.

I want to ensure that the House understands that clause 15, as drafted, provides that the Secretary of State will grant a permit to any British national involved in such work. That will ensure that the work is undertaken to high standards, and that a proper system is in place to guarantee that any artefacts removed for conservation work remain protected until they can be returned to Antarctica. That is important because the British Antarctic Territory has published a heritage strategy for the conservation of the British historic huts and other artefacts in the territory, which has been agreed with the United Kingdom Antarctic Heritage Trust and the British Antarctic Survey. That sets out overall principles for heritage conservation in the territory, and the United Kingdom Antarctic Heritage Trust has developed such plans, and undertakes a programme of maintenance at some of the sites, particularly the huts, each year. The Foreign and Commonwealth Office has granted the trust £100,000 in 2011 to support that important work, and the Government of the British Antarctic Territory share profits from the sale of stamps and coins, which also helps to support the trust’s important work.

I am sure that all Members of the House share the national pride in the historic discovery, exploration and scientific pioneering legacy of the UK in Antarctica. The scientific legacy of Captain Scott’s exhibition permeated many of the studies undertaken in subsequent years. British graves and other important legacy aspects are also there.

[Martin Horwood (Cheltenham) (LD)]

Is the Minister aware that it is a poignant time to be discussing this subject, because it is more or less the 100th anniversary of the news finally reaching England, and indeed my constituency, that the Scott expedition had met its very unhappy end? One of those who died, of course, was one of Cheltenham’s most famous sons, Dr Edward Wilson.

[Mark Simmonds]

I thank my hon. Friend for that comment. Of course he is absolutely right.

I reassure Members that clause 15 already allows for suitable amendments to be made to section 10 of the 1994 Act to ensure the long-term protection of Antarctica’s cultural heritage. The British historic legacy spans right across Antarctica, as do our responsibilities under the Antarctic treaty system. It is therefore crucial that clause 15, which is vital to the support and the longevity of historic and monumental sites in Antarctica as well as the objects housed within them, is extended to the whole of Antarctica, not just those historic sites and monuments in the British Antarctic Territory. I am therefore pleased to be able to reassure my hon. Friend the Member for Bury North that the amendment is unnecessary. The 1994 Act already ensures the regulation of British activities in Antarctica. As clause 15 is an amendment of section 10 of that Act, it will apply also to all historic sites and monuments designated under the Antarctic treaty system, wherever they are in Antarctica.

I shall now address the suggestion made by my hon. Friend the Member for Shipley (Philip Davies) that clause 5 be removed from the Bill. Before I respond to my hon. Friend, I want to ensure that the House understands exactly what clause 5 does. It places a requirement on people who are organising activities that are to be carried out in Antarctica, and which are connected with the United Kingdom, to take reasonable preventive measures designed to reduce both the risk of environmental emergencies arising from those activities and the impact that such environmental emergencies might have. The requirement must be fulfilled before the person who is carrying out the activities enters Antarctica.

[Jake Berry]

I reinforce the points that my hon. Friend just made about identifying people who might pollute the Antarctic environment, because the Bill enshrines the “polluter pays” principle. Historically, we have found it very difficult to identify that polluter, and often, as time has gone by, the polluter is no longer around to remediate the damage they have done. That is why I strongly support the specific point in the Bill that says, “Let’s find out who the polluter is before the damage can be done.” I think that is very important.

[Mark Simmonds]

My hon. Friend makes an extremely pertinent point. He is right in his assessment of the importance of both the Bill as a whole and the “polluter pays” principle. Many of the clauses are designed to act as a deterrent to ensure that the appropriate mechanisms, thought and strategies have been put in place to stop any emergency occurring and to react quickly in the unfortunate event of an environmental emergency in Antarctica.

--- Later in debate ---

[Mark Simmonds]

May I begin my remarks on Third Reading by reiterating the praise that has rightly been expressed for my hon. Friend the Member for Stroud (Neil Carmichael) for his able stewardship of the Bill through its Second Reading, Committee and Report stages? He has done an excellent job not only in taking the time and trouble to follow in the footsteps of Scott and Shackleton, but in getting to grips with the detail of this all-important Bill.

I also thank all those who have participated in the passage of the Bill at its various stages, and those who have proposed new clauses and amendments and taken part in the Third Reading debate today. One reason why the debates have been so successful is the cross-party support that has been shown consistently in the House for this important Bill and the important protections that it will afford to the pristine Antarctic environment. That has been highlighted again in today’s debate.

My hon. Friend the Member for Plymouth, Sutton and Devonport (Oliver Colvile) was right to raise the presentation of Queen Elizabeth Land to Her Majesty at the Foreign and Commonwealth Office by the Foreign Secretary on the last visit that the Queen made during her jubilee year. It is important that areas of the British Antarctic Territory are named for identification and safety reasons. It is fitting that such a significant area should be named after Her Majesty as she has been the sovereign for all of the time that the British Antarctic Territory has been in existence. I confirm to my hon. Friend and to the House that that approach fits with the provisions of the Antarctic treaty.

In an intervention on my hon. Friend the Member for Stroud, my hon. Friend the Member for Plymouth, Sutton and Devonport also asked about Ireland. Ireland has not signed the Antarctic treaty, although we encourage all states with an interest in science or activities in Antarctica to do so. We will continue to try to persuade Ireland, and over past years we have offered to facilitate any interest from Ireland in Antarctica. My hon. Friend may have been referring to Northern Ireland, and I assure him that all devolved Administrations have been consulted and are supportive of the Bill. My final point in response to my hon. Friend’s remarks relates to education, and I confirm that the British Antarctic Survey and the Royal Geographical Society have provided an educational website on aspects of Antarctica, and a question about Antarctica was included in the GCSE geography exam last summer. Antarctica is, therefore, already a key part of the geography curriculum.

The Government have consistently shown their support for this Bill and the important protections that it will afford to the Antarctic environment. A number of hon. Members have mentioned the legacy of Captain Scott and his fellow explorers, and scientists understand the significant risks they took when they set out on their fateful expedition. Despite considerable advances in technology and communications, Antarctica remains a potentially life-threatening environment.

Human activity in Antarctica has increased significantly over past decades, and the number of countries party to the Antarctic treaty has risen from an original 12 signatories in 1959 to 50 today. As I said, in 1992-93, fewer than 9,000 tourists visited Antarctica, but by 2012-13 that number had increased threefold to 26,000. In addition to the number of tourists visiting Antarctica, in the mid-1970s only the original 12 signatories to the treaty had established research bases there. The Council of Managers of National Antarctic Programs currently lists 80 stations, and growing global interest in Antarctica as both a place of science and of tourism poses an increasing risk to Antarctica’s environment. That is the background to the provisions in this important Bill.

The consequences of an environmental emergency in Antarctica could be devastating. Antarctica is one of the world’s most pristine natural environments, if not the most pristine. The Southern ocean is surprisingly biologically diverse, and much of the Antarctic landscape is virtually untouched by man. On its own that is enough to make an environmental emergency potentially devastating, and the continent’s remoteness, harsh operating conditions and relative lack of infrastructure serve only to exacerbate any potential impacts. It is therefore crucial that all reasonable steps are taken to prevent, minimise or contain the impact of an environmental disaster, and that is the driving force behind my hon. Friend’s Bill and the Government’s support for it.

This is an important, well-drafted and coherent Bill, and the clauses outlined by my hon. Friend the Member for Stroud, and others, include important aspects concerning environmental emergency responses, civil liability, preparatory prevention measures, and historical monuments and sites. That comprehensive package of measures will greatly enhance the protections afforded to Antarctica and ensure that the UK has fully implemented current obligations in the Antarctic treaty.

My hon. Friend the Member for Bury North (Mr Nuttall) was correct to try to determine whether the Government will not just continue their interest but take a proactive role, and I assure him and other Members of the House that we will not rest on our laurels. Hopefully, after the Bill makes it on to the statute book, we will continue to participate in a significant and leading way.

We remain fully committed to the treaty, seeing it as one of the best conflict prevention strategies, as well as a robust protection for our sovereign claim to the British Antarctic Territory. The Government want to ensure that the treaty system does not stagnate, and it is crucial that the treaty parties continuously look ahead and make sound, proactive decisions about future management. Co-operation has worked in the past and we hope it will continue to do so. With an increase in the number of parties engaged, it is not only dependent on the commitment of states to the treaty system, but intrinsically linked to wider global challenges, from population increases to global climate change impacts, wider diplomatic relations and the continued willingness of states to work together for the greater good.

As my hon. Friend the Member for Plymouth, Sutton and Devonport pointed out, Antarctica is unarguably changing as a result of the climate. In the face of these challenges, the UK will advocate and implement comprehensive environmental protection measures and careful conservation of the Southern ocean. The Government remain resolute in our commitment to the indefinite prohibition of commercial exploitation of Antarctic minerals. We will continue to promote the values and importance of Antarctica, and ensure that the British historic and scientific legacy is promoted and conserved. Working with key partners, such as the Scott Polar Research Institute and the UK Antarctic Heritage Trust, we want to ensure that future generations can continue to be inspired by the endeavours of our forefathers. Most importantly, the Government want to ensure a continued active and influential British presence, both in the region and in the treaty system. This will remain grounded in science, but with a clear objective to uphold the principles of the treaty system and international law.

I am grateful for the opportunity presented today by my hon. Friend the Member for Stroud to reaffirm the Government’s continued and wholehearted support for the Bill to increase protection of the Antarctic environment. The Government look forward to continued support as the Bill enters the other place and hopefully proceeds expeditiously to the statute book.

Question put and agreed to.

Bill accordingly read the Third time and passed.