MEMORANDUM 21
Submission from the British Antarctic
Survey (BAS)
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
1. BAS science is global, and its work is
almost all international. Providing expert advice in support of
FCO policy is a key function. As well as providing most of Britain's
presence in Antarctica, BAS operates on South Georgia and runs
a base in Svalbard. International Polar Year 2007-2008 has opened
up new possibilities for science, including the Arctic. BAS has
a vast range of overseas collaborations, including programme agreements
with other national organisations, and international partnerships
involving individual scientists and research groups.
DETAIL
2. The mission of BAS has always been international.
Originally the Falkland Islands Dependencies Survey, it was not
transferred from the Colonial Office to the Natural Environment
Research Council (NERC) until 1967. The FCO remains a major stakeholder,
with which BAS is in daily contact, and there are also close links
with the British Council's overseas programme of science outreach.
Advice is also provided to DEFRA, for example on climate change
and global sea level rise. At all major Antarctic Treaty meetings
BAS provides key senior members of the UK delegation, as well
as scientific, environmental and logistical advice. In doing so,
its mission is "to sustain for the UK a leadership role in
Antarctic affairs"". Without this input from BAS, the
UK would not be as influential in the international governance
of Antarctica, and the UK's ability to maintain its sovereign
claim in Antarctica (the British Antarctic Territory) would be
weakened. This close coordination between BAS and FCO was illustrated
clearly at last year's Antarctic Treaty Consultative Meeting in
Edinburgh, which was described by Lord Triesman as a huge success
for Britain (hosting for the first time in 30 years). BAS contributed
over 60 staff, including 10 members of the UK Delegation, and
its Royal Research Ship James Clark Ross, and drafted many of
the meeting's essential papers. Operation of permanent bases in
the Antarctic, at Rothera and Halley, and a summer station at
Signy Island, is also a major BAS contribution to the maintenance
of Britain's territorial claim.
3. BAS represents the UK on the Council
of Managers of National Antarctic Programmes, achieving greater
impact there than any other country except the US: many newer
members, including Korea and the Czech Republic, have come to
BAS for practical advice. BAS scientists are highly influential
in the Scientific Committee on Antarctic Research (SCAR), and
in July 2006 Professor Chris Rapley (Director of BAS) was elected
as its President for the next 4 years. He will therefore be well
placed to guide the work of SCAR through the whole International
Polar Year period (see para. 11 below).
4. BAS's international role extends throughout
the South Atlantic: its written evidence submitted on 19 January
2007 to the Committee's Inquiry "Investigating the Oceans""
covers this. Its ships and aircraft are all registered in Stanley,
Falklands, which is the forward logistic base for BAS Antarctic
operations (contributing over £1 million annually to the
Falklands economy). FCO evidence to this Inquiry will be relevant
here.
5. BAS has a base on Bird Island (South
Georgia). Under a MoU with the FCO and the Government of South
Georgia, it also provides the British presence at King Edward
Point, formerly an MOD responsibility, which is essential for
HMG as well as for the Government of South Georgia (a UK Overseas
Territory, like the Falklands and the British Antarctic Territory).
6. BAS science covers the whole gamut of
theoretical and applied. It gains much from the interdisciplinary
nature of BAS research, and from the organisation's integrated
structure, which also makes BAS a more attractive—and often
essential—partner for international collaborators. Here
are three examples of BAS's international science profile, with
direct policy implications:
(i) Atmosphere science. Identification
of the ozone hole and its causes, together with long term monitoring
of its recovery, is a high priority for BAS. This work led to
the Montreal Protocol and the subsequent global agreements to
remove chloro-fluoro-carbons (CFCs) from use.
(ii) Climate history in ice cores. BAS
makes a major contribution to the European Project for Ice Coring
in Antarctica (EPICA). EPICA is a multinational project for deep
ice core drilling in Antarctica. Its main objective is to obtain
full documentation of the climatic and atmospheric record over
the last 1 million years archived in Antarctic ice, by drilling
and analyzing ice cores. It has been a remarkable success for
Europe and for BAS scientists.
(iii) Sea level rise. Determining the
West Antarctic Ice Sheet's future contribution to sea level rise
is vital: it was the largest uncertainty identified in the recent
report by the Inter-Governmental Panel on Climate Change. BAS
made key inputs to the final report, both on describing recent
changes and on assessing their impacts.
Success in these and other areas of science
is due largely to the BAS policy of doing global science, with
wide applications, not restricted to narrow polar research. The
very nature of the challenge means that earth system science has
to be international, and it is in Britain's best interest to tackle
it in this way. Antarctica is used as a natural laboratory for
scientific questions which cannot be answered anywhere else, and
which often require an interdisciplinary approach. As the international
focus on climate change increases, and the global significance
of the polar regions is better understood, this approach will
pay even greater dividends for BAS and for the UK. The BAS website
is already used worldwide as a vital resource. Other aspects of
the global impact of BAS science are covered in the separate evidence
submitted by NERC to this Inquiry.
7. An essential part of the international
governance of Antarctica is environmental protection. Under the
Environmental Protocol to the Antarctic Treaty, all Treaty nations
are responsible for this, but in practice a handful take the lead
in formulating policy and making sure that it is implemented.
Britain is a leading player, and the expertise is provided by
BAS. The output includes sophisticated management plans for the
most vulnerable areas, and greater awareness of the fragility
of the Southern Ocean's ecosystem. The environmental approach
to the construction of the new British base at Halley over the
next 3 years will be a model for other nations to follow.
8. In biology, BAS work on biodiversity
and Southern Ocean ecosystems has a direct impact on international
policy. Scientific advice to the Commission for the Conservation
of Antarctic Marine Living Resources (described in BAS's Investigating
the Oceans evidence) is crucial to managing the Southern Ocean's
rich fishery resource properly, and thus to the income of the
Government of South Georgia from licences. Similar input is made
to the Agreement on Conservation of Albatrosses and Petrels, which
was largely inspired and drafted by BAS scientists.
9. Another practical output is Polar View,
a European-funded project for monitoring sea ice by satellite.
This is a major new BAS contribution to the safety of international
shipping in Antarctic waters. Like BAS's search and rescue capacity
there, and the hydrographic work done by BAS's own ships, and
by HMS Endurance (with which BAS cooperates very closely), it
reduces the risks to British citizens travelling on tour ships
in the Antarctic.
10. Although the main focus is Antarctic,
BAS operates for NERC a research station at Svalbard, and much
of BAS science is by nature bipolar. There is already collaboration
on science and logistics with certain Arctic nations, especially
Norway, and BAS is actively seeking ways to expand this. Greater
use of BAS assets in the North during the austral summer is possible,
but would require some additional funding.
11. International Polar Year 2007-08 (IPY)
is providing an additional dimension for BAS's international work
over the next two years. The IPY International Programme Office,
funded by NERC, is at BAS Cambridge and is overseeing 170 science
projects at both poles. The UK is involved in about half of all
IPY projects, with a major BAS input to those in the Antarctic.
This makes BAS by far the biggest UK participant in IPY, and one
of the most significant worldwide. The UK IPY National Committee,
with a large input from BAS, helps to coordinate the significant
UK involvement in the Polar Year.
12. Part of the legacy of IPY will be even
stronger international collaboration for Britain in this field.
Already BAS has over 100 international MoUs. IPY is an opportunity
to gain access to new areas of science or different geographical
regions where Britain is relatively weak, and to showcase our
specialities. For example, BAS is currently negotiating with an
international group to carry out aircraft survey work in East
Antarctica (Dome A) which is likely to lead to involvement in
the deepest ever ice core drilling programme.
13. BAS intends to build on earlier successes
in stimulating new strategic partnerships at national level. For
example, there is a lively relationship with China: an MoU with
Holland, for whom BAS provides their primary Antarctic access
for biological research: a productive new link with Malaysia:
and advanced plans for a MoU with Ukraine, who will host the 2008
Antarctic Treaty Consultative Meeting. Against this background,
it is not surprising that BAS itself employs over 20 nationalities,
and chooses its individual collaborators from the widest possible
range of countries.
14. At the European level, BAS is fully
engaged. It provides advice to the European Space Agency, and
has activities with both the European Parliament and the European
Science Foundation (ESF). There has been substantial involvement
through representation on and interaction with the ESF European
Polar Board, and BAS senior staff are contributing significantly
to the EU-Funded European Polar Consortium. In Antarctica, European
(including BAS) input into ice core climate record research over
almost two decades has been of fundamental importance, and BAS
research at remote sites like Berkner Island has led the way to
new discoveries. The UK Research Office (UKRO) provides assistance
to UK researchers bidding for EU funding. However, BAS believes
that the UKRO could be more proactive, to ensure that UK polar
interests are fully incorporated into FP7 and the work of the
European Research Council.
15. International outreach is an important
activity for BAS, also stimulated by IPY. Its learning website
for children—"Discovering Antarctica—"has
global reach, and since its launch last June has received over
3 million hits. Its international success means that it is now
being translated into other languages. A major Antarctic exhibition
opening at the Natural History Museum in May, with a lot of BAS
input, will go on to tour internationally, reaching millions of
people.
CONCLUSION
16. There is no significant area of BAS
activity which is not international in its nature and output.
Contributing to international understanding of Antarctica's influence
on the earth system, and on climate change, is the essential business
of BAS, and is reflected in its vision and mission statements.
BAS seeks the widest possible international collaboration, in
both science and logistics, because that is the way to maximise
the value of the UK investment in the polar regions. Its aim is
to provide sound evidence on which international policies can
be based, and to increase Britain's influence in the community
of Antarctic nations. That is why the FCO is a key stakeholder
for every division of BAS, and DEFRA too is of increasing importance
as its role in climate issues develops. BAS aims is to underpin
and promote British science worldwide, particularly on climate
and environmental issues, and to provide the necessary support
for British foreign policy in Antarctica and the South Atlantic.
April 2007
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