Does the Minerals Convention Pose a Threat to the Antarctic Environment?
Since it became apparent that the mineral negotiations would be successfully concluded with the adoption of the Convention, the Consultative Parties have come under attack for their alleged attempt at opening Antarctica for commercial mining. The environmentalist associations that are in the forefront of this attack of course do not conceive of Antarctica being opened to minerals exploitation even under the most rigorous system of supervision. Their position, as already mentioned, is uncompromising in their demand that the whole continent be declared a world park. Whether this option will prevail in the long run, or whether Antarctica will be opened to mineral resource activities under the 1988 Convention is, for the time being, only a matter of speculation. What is certain now is that all the states active in Antarctica have shown that they are not willing to exclude the option of mineral activities in that continent. Therefore, even if one were to hope that the continent of Antarctic
