Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what his priorities are for the Antarctic region for the next 12 months.

The Government's priorities are: maintaining the integrity of the Antarctic Treaty, which designates the continent as a region reserved for peace and science, and maintaining the UK’s leading role within that system; protecting UK sovereign interests and the level of British presence in the British Antarctic Territory; supporting the British Antarctic Survey in delivering world class science in a region essential to understanding the world’s changing climate; enhancing the environmental protection of the continent, including the sustainable management of marine resources. The UK will also be leading efforts to improve the management of increasing levels of Antarctic tourism, protect important (and often British) Antarctic heritage and enhance our understanding of the Polar oceans, including tackling issues such as plastic pollution.