On Tuesday, Her Royal Highness Crown Princess Victoria of Sweden participated in a digital symposium on the Antarctic ecosystem and climate change. During the event Her Royal Highness also held a speech from her home-office at Haga Castle.
The Crown Princess began the symposium with a speech in which she said: “We have great challenges ahead of us. In the waters around Antarctica, there are huge amounts of krill, lanterns and squid, among other things. They are in turn food for the earth’s by far the largest concentration of marine mammals and seabirds. They are efficient ecosystems – but also fragile. sensitive to disturbances of climate change, overfishing and pollution. Antarctica depends on us – and we on Antarctica. The future of these species concerns us all.”
During the symposium, it was discussed, among other things, what is the basis for the Swedish presence in Antarctica and what the biggest challenges for sustainable management look like today. Invited lecturers also talked about how Swedish research contributes to ecosystem-based management of Antarctica.
Since the turn of the last century, Sweden has played an active role in Antarctic research. Since 1984, Sweden has been a full-fledged and voting party to the Antarctic Treaty, the main function of which is to safeguard humanity’s interests in Antarctica “to be used exclusively for peaceful purposes and not to become a scene or subject to international disagreement.”
Sweden took over the presidency of the Commission at the annual meeting in November 2020 for a period of two years. The Director General of the Swedish Maritime Administration also represents Sweden in the commission’s work on behalf of the government. Foreign Minister Ann Linde attended the symposium to launch the Swedish Presidency.
In January 2016, Crown Princess Victoria was appointed by the then UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon as one of 17 ambassadors for work on the UN’s global sustainability goals. The ambassadors’ task is to promote in various ways the UN’s goals for sustainable development, Agenda 2030. From 2019, the Crown Princess will be included in the alumni group link to another website. The Crown Princess continues to focus in particular on sustainability, maritime and fisheries issues.
