The Tamesis
May 21, 2026
Tokyo – Discussions at the Antarctic Treaty Consultative Conference (ATCM) currently being held in Hiroshima are in the final stages, with this year’s meeting set to conclude on Thursday.
The plenary meeting is scheduled to be held on the last day, with decisions taken by all member states, and a final report is expected to be adopted, including the key points agreed upon at the meeting. Whether Japan, as the country chairing this year’s conference, can achieve certain results through leading discussions has attracted much attention.
The Antarctic Treaty came into force in 1961, with the main purpose of promoting scientific research and the peaceful use of Antarctica. ATCM is hosted on a rotating basis by treaty consultative countries and countries actively conducting scientific research in Antarctica. This year, Japan is hosting the conference for the first time since it was held in Kyoto in 1994.
About 400 people from 44 countries including the United States, China and Russia participated in this year’s conference, which started on May 11. Discussions were held behind closed doors, with working groups established on specific agenda items such as “Legal and Institutional Issues” and “Developing a Tourism Framework”.
One of the main issues at the meeting was whether to designate emperor penguins, which live in Antarctica, as a specially protected species under the treaty. While emperor penguins lay eggs and raise their chicks on sea ice during freezing temperatures, their breeding and habitat are threatened by global warming, which is causing sea ice to shrink. In April, the International Union for Conservation of Nature classified emperor penguins as “endangered” on its Red List of Threatened Species, citing concerns that their numbers could halve by the 2080s.
Most negotiating countries, including Japan, which has participated in previous meetings, support designating emperor penguins as a specially protected species, but China and Russia have opposed the move. Beijing and Moscow may believe that measures to strengthen species protections will lead to undue restrictions on the use of Antarctica and surrounding oceans.
“In recent years, despite many discussions, the two sides are still at an impasse. The prospects for a solution are not optimistic.” A person from the Japanese government delegation said frankly.
Regulatory measures to deal with a surge in visitors to Antarctica are also believed to be discussed at this year’s meeting. According to statistics from the International Association of Antarctic Tour Operators, the number of tourists to Antarctica in the 2024-2025 tourist season is approximately 120,000, an increase of approximately 1,400% from 30 years ago. In recent years, tourism activities have also expanded from cruises to see icebergs and penguins to land-based scenic flights and marathons.
Increased visitor numbers could cause undue stress on animals such as penguins and further damage their habitats. Tourists also run the risk of inadvertently bringing non-native species to Antarctica, which could damage its valuable ecosystem. In view of this, whether to limit tourist areas and the number of tourists may become a focus of debate at the meeting.
“With the increase in the number of inbound tourists [on Antarctica] Satoshi Imura, deputy director of the National Polar Research Institute of Japan and a member of the Japanese government delegation attending the meeting, said:
“Discussions on finding a solution need to move forward as soon as possible,” added Imura, who twice captained Japan’s Antarctic expedition team.
