A Plan to Protect Antarctica, That Scientists Hoped Would Help Slow Climate Change, was Blocked by Three Nations

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Environmentalists were frustrated after plans for an ocean sanctuary in Antartica were blocked Friday by three members of the Commission for the Conservation of Antarctic Marine Living Resources.

The plan, proposed by Greenpeace, would have banned fishing in a 1.8 million square kilometer area – five times the size of Germany – within the Antartic oceans. Experts said that as well as preserving marine species, the protected oceans would have better absorbed carbon dioxide from the atmosphere, helping to ameliorate climate change.

While 22 of the 25 members of the CCAMLR backed the plan, as well as nearly three million people worldwide, members from China, Norway and Russia played the key role in blocking the plan.

During the Commission's yearly meetings, all decisions must come to a consensus.

"This was a historic opportunity to create the largest protected area on Earth in the Antarctic: safeguarding wildlife, tackling climate change and improving the health of our global oceans," said Frida Bengtsson, senior oceans campaigner for Greenpeace, in a press release.

"Twenty-two delegations came here to negotiate in good faith but, instead, serious scientific proposals for urgent marine protection were derailed by interventions which barely engaged with the science."

The meeting was hosted in Hobart, Tasmania from October 22 to November 2. CCAMLR said the topic regarding the sanctuary was "subject to much discussion."

Though the outcome of this year's meeting did not satisfy certain environmental groups, the Commission is already preparing for the discussion to be reopened at next year's meeting.

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