Towards an Ecocentric Governance of Global Commons: Ethics, Justice, and Rights in the Antarctic

Antarctica is one of the four global commons, which are areas and resources beyond national jurisdiction (with the high seas, the atmosphere, and outer space). Several human activities take place in the Antarctic, such as tourism and science, and their impacts are increasing. However, there is no permanent human population on the continent and no State.

The more-than-humans are, therefore, the only residents of the Antarctic, and yet their interests and rights are not included in Antarctic institutions and decision-making processes.

My research project aims at providing a critical ecocentric study of Antarctic law and governance drawing on the rights of nature and multispecies justice discourses, and contributing to the legal debate around the exploitation of global commons in the broader context of environmental change by considering the real-world implications of an ecocentric model of governance.