Chilean Bárbara Hernández achieves record for longest Antarctic swim with urgent call to increase protection of its waters

Antarctica, 6th February 2023: Yesterday the Chilean ice-water swimmer, Bárbara Hernández, made history by being the first person to swim 2.5 kilometers in the frozen waters of Antarctica. Hernández, an experienced open water swimmer with previous world records including the Guinness World Record for completing the fastest ocean mile swim through the Drake Passage in southern Chile, is currently onboard a Chilean …

Antarctica: Getting Multilateralism Right

By Pascal Lamy This week, the Paris Peace Forum convenes, marking the 100 year anniversary since the end of World War I. It highlights the importance of global cooperation, peace, and good governance for a threatened planet. Antarctica2020- an initiative that brings together a group of thought-leaders from around the world working to secure the strong protection of 7 million …

WILL WE PROTECT ANTARCTICA OR EXPLOIT IT?

José María Figueres – A special multination commission should approve proposals for three marine sanctuaries in the continent’s bountiful seas. Antarctica’s Southern Ocean has been exploited for its teeming bounty, from the top of its food chain to the bottom, for more than 200 years. Seal hunters arrived there in the late 1700s and by 1825 fur seals were nearing extinction. Hunters …