France and the Antarctic treaty

In June 2021, France hosted the 43rd Antarctic Treaty Meeting, the RCTA, of which it held the presidency twice in 1968 and 1989.

Discover below several resources and links that will allow you to learn a little more about issues related to the Antarctic Treaty and the RCTA:

Treaty documents

The treaty
The Antarctic Treaty Secretariat
The key documents of the Treaty

The articles
France Diplomatie is in charge of the organisation of the event and the conference site of the RCTA 2021. Information on Antarctica can be found in the country pages.

To understand the environmental protection that has resulted from the implementation of the Antarctic Treaty, you can find details of this implementation on the pages of the French Polar Institute, read more….

Former director of the French Polar Institute, Yves Frenot has written a detailed article on the genesis of the treaty: “The Antarctic Treaty: a unique governance at the service of the environment and science”, read more on the Encyclopaedia of the environment

A recent article presents the stakes of the next meeting carried by France following the interview of Jérôme Chappellaz in the journal de l’environnement.

Anne Choquet wrote an article entitled “Antarctic Treaty: 60 years of an international agreement like no other on the occasion of the 60th anniversary of the signing of the treaty in The conversation.

The wikipedia page

Videos
A programme on Arte, the Vortex, proposes to answer, or try to answer, the question: “Who does Antarctica belong to? “follow the questions asked by these specialists in popularising science.

A short video from Le Monde en cartes offers a quick explanation of the Antarctic treaty in pictures: “Antarctica: geopolitics at the end of the world“.

Filmed conferences
In 2020, on the occasion of the 60th anniversary of the treaty, Jérôme Chappellaz, director of the Polar Institute and Anne Choquet, a specialist in polar law, presented a conference entitled: “60 years of the Antarctic treaty, from exploration to science” at the Maison des Océans, the full text of which is available on the French Polar Institute’s video channel.

Anne Choquet also held a conference on the subject at Océanopolis in Brest.

Yan Ropert-Coudert gave a lecture on France in the Deep South: from science to the Antarctic Treaty at the Knowledge Amphis of the University of Poitiers and the Mendès-France space.

In 2013, Annick de Marffy-Mantuano presented for the United Nations “The Washington Treaty and the Antarctic system: 50 years after“.

Archives
In 1959, an article in Le Monde announced the signing of the Treaty.

In 1986, on television, Paul-Emile Victor explained to viewers the historical content of this treaty, which can be seen on the Ina site.