BANGKOK: A multinational group on Antarctic conservation failed to break a years-long deadlock and agree new marine reserves in the region, despite record low ice, environmental groups said on Friday.

The Commission for the Conservation of Antarctic Marine Living Resources ended a fortnight of meetings in Australia once again unable to reach a deal on three new marine protected areas (MPAs).

The proposed sanctuaries around Antarctica would safeguard nearly four million square kilometres (1.5 million square miles) of ocean from human activities, in the largest act of ocean protection in history.

“It’s frustrating that discussions for MPAs have been ongoing for more than a decade and utterly disappointing that CCAMLR has been unable to make significant progress again, particularly following a year of unprecedented and concerning change for Antarctica,” said WWF’s Antarctic conservation manager Emily Grilly.

The areas were first proposed in 2010, before being scaled down in 2017, in an attempt to win more support.

But their creation has persistently been blocked by China and Russia, including most recently at the commission’s June meeting in Chile.

NGOs including WWF had expressed hope that the commission might now act given record low levels of sea-ice in the region and evidence of “mass deaths of vulnerable species”.

Greenpeace said the gridlock was all the more notable given successful negotiations to reach the UN ocean treaty earlier this year.

“Another year, another failed Antarctic Ocean Commission meeting. The Commission can always agree to new fishing licenses, but can’t agree on a concrete pathway forwards on protection,” said Jehki Harkonen, a policy advisor.

The proposed protected areas would have limited human activity, particularly fishing, and environmentalists say they would be key to helping species recover in the rapidly changing region.

Published in Dawn, October 28th, 2023