Finland’s activities in Antarctica

Finland is one of the five countries that participate in both Arctic and Antarctic decision-making. Finland’s objectives in Antarctica are to protect Antarctica’s unique environment and to keep it as free of political tensions as possible in the changing conditions.

The Antarctic Treaty of 1959 is part of the international treaty system. Its central purpose is to preserve the Antarctic continent for peaceful and scientific use. The treaty prohibits all territorial claims and military operations in Antarctica. It also bans nuclear explosions and the disposal of radioactive waste material in Antarctica.

The Antarctic Treaty was supplemented in 1991 with the Madrid Protocol on Environmental Protection, which prohibits, among others, mineral resource activities for purposes other than scientific research. At present, there are 29 Consultative Parties and 26 non-Consultative Parties to the Antarctic Treaty. Under the treaty, any State may engage in research in Antarctica and the treaty is open for accession by any Member State of the United Nations.

Finland acceded to the Antarctic Treaty in 1984. However, acceding to the treaty does not give a Party the right to participate in decision-making concerning Antarctica. Gaining a consultative status requires extensive research engagement. Finland was accepted as a Consultative Party in 1989.

Finland has a research station, Aboa(Link to another website.), which studies questions such as the behaviour of ice, the composition of the upper atmosphere and the transport of aerosols. Since the construction of Aboa, field research visits have been made from Finland to Antarctica on a regular basis.

The Finnish Antarctic Research Program (FINNARP) (Link to another website.)operations office at the Finnish Meteorological Institute is responsible for arranging Finnish field research in Antarctica and maintaining Aboa.

The research carried out in Antarctica is mainly funded by the Research Council of Finland(Link to another website.), which organises a call for applications for multi-annual research projects every four years. Finnish expeditions have carried out research relating to meteorology, glaciers, sea ice, geology and geophysics, among others. Finland aims to conduct Antarctic research primarily in those areas of scientific interest where it has a high level of expertise. The aim is also to link these studies to issues and research related to northern regions.

Finland cooperates with other countries in Antarctic research and logistics. Finnish projects have been part of broader international programmes, and Finnish researchers have worked at the research stations of several other countries. For example, the Finnish and Argentinian meteorological institutes started cooperation in 1987 to study ozone depletion, and they carry out regular ozone measurements at Argentina’s research station in Marambio, Antarctica.

Finland has special polar expertise

Finland wanted to become a party to the Antarctic Treaty to support the treaty that has ensured a peaceful development of Antarctica and set the continent aside as a military free zone. Finland was also considered to have expertise in cold climate and maritime transport in polar regions.

Finland’s objectives are to protect Antarctica’s unique environment and to keep it as free of political tensions as possible in the changing conditions. Finland is one of the five countries that participate in both Arctic and Antarctic decision-making.

Finland hosted the Antarctic Treaty Consultative Meeting (ATCM) in Helsinki from 29 May to 8 June 2023.

Geopolitical interest in Antarctica has grown in recent years. The greatest challenges facing Antarctica are related to the global impacts of climate change and to melting ice sheets in particular. Tourism and the risk of the spread of alien species have also increased.

The Secretariat of the Antarctic Treaty is located in Buenos Aires.