A eficácia dos regimes internacionais ambientais: o caso da Convenção para Conservação dos Recursos Marinhos Vivos Antárticos (CAMLR) no século XXI

Abstract

The advent of the Antarctic Treaty (TA) in 1959 marked a new era in policy development for this region. Originally, a group of twelve nations pledged to protect it, under a strict ban on military activities. However, the following decades would see frequent threats to this so-called neutrality. Following the technological progress and the consequent increase in exploration possibilities, Antarctica came to be seen as a strategic region by several countries, including Brazil. The Southern Ocean, in this context, has changed its status: from an unknown location, it has become an area of resource exploitation. In this context, this study seeks to answer whether international agreements are effective in protecting Antarctica. The regime governing this continent was strengthened with the creation of the Convention for the Conservation of Marine Living Resources (CAMLR) in 1980. In this scenario, using the theoretical framework of international regime effectiveness, we sought to investigate whether this convention was effective in achieving its goals, from its creation to 2020. A single case study framework was used where CAMLR represents a case among a population of several international agreements. The convention’s institutional history, its organizational structure and its operation through committees is investigated. The analysis was conducted through a qualitative methodology, using different strategies and techniques: manual content analysis of the original text of the CAMLR convention, the annals of the meetings of its commission and its committees (SCIC, SC and SCAF) and semi-structured interviews with its experts, aside from literature review. As a result, we concluded that the convention possesses a high degree of effectiveness in the preservation of marine living resources under its protection.