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Strategic Plan 2004-2010
1. Introduction
1.1 SCAR Development
SCAR, the Scientific Committee on Antarctic Research, is the principal organisation dealing with Antarctic scientific research. It is the authoritative voice on Antarctic scientific research from the ionosphere to the mantle, from bacteria to seals, from the ice sheet to the deep sea floor, on the role of Antarctica in the Earth System, and on astronomy from Antarctica.
SCAR is an interdisciplinary committee of the International Council for Science (ICSU). Formed in 1958, SCAR (then the Special Committee on Antarctic Research) was charged with “furthering the coordination of scientific activity in Antarctica, with a view to framing a scientific programme of circumpolar scope and significance”. In this role SCAR inherited the mantle of the Antarctic component of the International Geophysical Year for 1957-58 (IGY). SCAR held its first meeting, in The Hague, on February 3-5 1958. In 1961 ICSU recognised that there was a ‘permanent’ requirement for a committee dealing with Antarctic science, and SCAR’s name was changed to its present form.
In carrying out its activities as a committee of ICSU, SCAR is expected to follow the requirements of ICSU, which are listed in Annex 1.
SCAR’s area of interest includes Antarctica, its offshore islands, and the surrounding Southern Ocean including the Antarctic Circumpolar Current, the northern boundary of which is the Subantarctic Front. Subantarctic islands that lie north of the Subantarctic Front and yet fall into SCAR's area of interest include: Ile Amsterdam, Ile St Paul, Macquarie Island and Gough Island.
SCAR’s remit has evolved in part because of the development of the Antarctic Treaty System. When the Antarctic Treaty came into force in 1961, SCAR accepted the task of being the primary source of objective, independent scientific advice to the Antarctic Treaty Parties through the biennial Antarctic Treaty Consultative Meeting (ATCM), and was granted the status of Observer to the ATCM. Subsequently, some of the tasks formerly addressed by SCAR were taken up by organisations of the Antarctic Treaty System. For instance, in 1982, under the Convention on the Conservation of Antarctic Marine Living Resources (CCAMLR), the Antarctic Treaty Consultative Parties created a commission and a scientific committee to oversee the development of an ecosystem-wide approach to management of the waters south of the Antarctic Convergence. In 1991, the Protocol on Environmental Protection to the Antarctic Treaty was concluded to apply environmental protection principles to human activities in Antarctica. The Protocol required the formation of a Committee for Environmental Protection (CEP) to advise the ATCM on the implementation of the Protocol.
A different change in SCAR’s remit took place in 1988, when the Council of Managers of National Antarctic Programs (COMNAP) was created to coordinate the operations of the national research programmes operating in Antarctica, a task formerly carried out by the SCAR Working Group on Logistics.
SCAR’s Members (Annex 2) are representatives of national organisations adhering to ICSU, or nominated by national organisations adhering to ICSU. Members are represented at biennial SCAR meetings by one voting Delegate and an Alternate Delegate. SCAR’s membership has changed from 12 countries initially to 32 including 4 Associate Members (nations with an interest in becoming full members). ICSU Unions may also be Members; the number of Unions that are SCAR Members has increased from 4 initially, to 7 (Annex 2). .
Despite the changes over the years, there is still an essential requirement for the international coordination of science in the Antarctic region and the provision of objective state-of-the-art scientific advice from an independent organisation. Bearing that in mind, SCAR will focus its mission on being the leading independent organisation for facilitating and coordinating scientific research in Antarctica, and the primary source of scientific advice on international environmental policy in the region. To ensure that SCAR maintains a high quality science programme and provides the best possible scientific advice, the SCAR Delegates and their Alternates should be scientists directly involved in Antarctic science.
1.2 SCAR’s Role
SCAR continues to play a unique and crucial role in contributing to the scientific understanding of the south polar region of the planet. Under SCAR’s leadership, and within the framework of SCAR Scientific Research Programmes, SCAR Members and their national scientific communities increase scientific knowledge about Antarctica and understanding of the processes taking place there on and under the land surface, in the atmosphere and the ocean, in the ice and in outer space. Studies by SCAR scientists increasingly show how Antarctic processes contribute to the working of the Earth System, and vice versa, and of how the south polar environment is influenced by human activities originating both within and outside the region. They also indicate what needs to be done to safeguard the environment. In addition, through the provision of relevant information, assessments and advice to the ATCM, SCAR helps policy makers meet international commitments in the Antarctic.
SCAR continues its leading role in international efforts to monitor and protect the environment, by providing critical information on the role of Antarctica in global warming, climate change and sea-level rise, and on the effects of climate change on living organisms.
Several SCAR activities have led to substantial advances in knowledge of the functioning of the Planet. For instance, SCAR’s Programme on Biological Investigations of Marine Antarctic Systems and Stocks (BIOMASS) brought a breakthrough in understanding the operation of the Southern Ocean ecosystem that was essential for the creation of the Convention on the Conservation of Antarctic Marine Living Resources (CCAMLR). It was SCAR’s interest in conservation that led in 1964 to the adoption by the Antarctic Treaty of the Agreed Measures for the Conservation of Fauna and Flora. SCAR provides the essential forum in which discussions take place regarding the role of Antarctica in the global climate system, and the effect of global climate change on Antarctica. SCAR is coordinating a programme on ice sheet mass balance and sea-level (ISMASS), which is essential for the study of changes in global sea-level. Sea Ice Programmes, such as the Ecology of the Antarctic Sea Ice Zone (EASIZ), have clarified the role of sea ice in the productivity of the Southern Ocean.
In addition SCAR has helped to ensure the operation of a mechanism for the collection and exchange of scientific data and information that is a prerequisite for the development of an integrated and comprehensive understanding by all SCAR Members of how the different elements of the Earth System operate in the Antarctic environment. Among other things, SCAR has promoted integrated efforts to produce comprehensive maps of the continent. Topographic maps of Antarctica are created from Members’ mapping data in the SCAR Antarctic Data Base, and are in wide use by COMNAP, tourist operators and the science community. The names of Antarctic features are available on line in a Gazetteer. Geodetic information across the continent is co-ordinated by SCAR and made available to all Treaty nations. Offshore seismic profiles are collected to form a central resource. The list is not exhaustive.
1.3 SCAR’s Performance
SCAR aims for excellence and relevance in all of its activities. In recognition of SCAR’s contribution to international cooperation in Antarctica, it was awarded Spain’s Prince of Asturias Prize for International Cooperation, 2002. The award was used to sponsor 5 young scientists to undertake a research project in a SCAR country other than their own, as a contribution towards capacity building. SCAR is the first scientific institution to be awarded this significant prize.
With the object of seeing how SCAR could become more efficient and effective for the 21st Century, a “Review of SCAR Organisation and Strategy” was conducted between April 1999 and April 2000. In response to the recommendations of the 2000 Review, SCAR put in place a new structure in July 2002.
To revitalise itself in line with the recommendations of the Review, SCAR focused during 2000-2004 on
- engaging the delegates, officers and staff more actively in scientific leadership and management of SCAR, including its operating groups;
- modernising internal and external communications strategies and procedures; and
- creating a more flexible and responsive operating structure. In line with the recommendations of the Review (listed in Annex 3), the Strategic Plan continues the emphasis on making SCAR more proactive; improving the planning and decision making functions in the biennial SCAR cycle; modernising SCAR’s secretariat; implementing change rapidly to maintain and enhance SCAR’s position as the authoritative leader for scientific research in Antarctica; and engaging national Antarctic committees and other adhering bodies to renew their commitments to SCAR. The Plan also adopts the Review’s recommendations to broaden SCAR’s mission, as explained in Section 2, below.
In reviewing the performance of all of its environmental bodies, ICSU’s 2003 “Report on Environment and its Relation to Sustainable Development” concluded that “The importance of SCAR has increased over the years with greater understanding of the pivotal role of the Antarctic in the Earth system and its numerous connections with other physical and biological elements including space weather and Sun-Earth interactions. Antarctic science therefore has global relevance, whether in tracking the history of the atmosphere through ice-core analysis over the last half-million years, in determining levels of pollution (e.g. heavy metals, organic compounds) and their impacts, and ultimately in exploring life forms in subglacial Lake Vostok.” The Report went on to note that SCAR was in the process of a reform, and recommended that “These reforms should lead to better cooperation with other groups and institutions, particularly those within the ICSU family.”
In order to ensure that SCAR continues to operate to high standards, SCAR’s performance will be reviewed by an independent outside group at intervals of 8 years, with the next review being in 2008.
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