A/RES/57/51 United Nations General Assembly Distr.: General 30 December 2002 Fifty-seventh session Agenda item 59 Resolution adopted by the General Assembly [on the report of the First Committee (A/57/503)] 57/51. Question of Antarctica The General Assembly, Recalling its resolution 54/45 of 1 December 1999, in which it requested the Secretary-General to submit a report consisting of the information provided by the Antarctic Treaty Consultative Parties on their consultative meetings and on their activities in Antarctica, and on developments in relation to Antarctica, Taking into account the debates on the question of Antarctica held since its thirty-eighth session, Conscious of the particular significance of Antarctica to the international community, including for international peace and security, the global and regional environment, its effects on global and regional climate conditions, and scientific research, Reaffirming that the management and use of Antarctica should be conducted in accordance with the purposes and principles of the Charter of the United Nations and in the interest of maintaining international peace and security and of promoting international cooperation for the benefit of mankind as a whole, Recognizing that the Antarctic Treaty, 1 which provides, inter alia, for the demilitarization of the continent, the prohibition of nuclear explosions and the disposal of nuclear wastes, the freedom of scientific research and the free exchange of scientific information, is in furtherance of the purposes and principles of the Charter, Noting with satisfaction the entry into force of the Protocol on Environmental Protection to the Antarctic Treaty2 on 14 January 1998, under which Antarctica has been designated as a natural reserve, devoted to peace and science, and the provisions contained in the Protocol regarding the protection of the Antarctic environment and dependent and associated ecosystems, including the need for _______________ 1 2 02 54117 United Nations, Treaty Series, vol. 402, No. 5778. International Legal Materials, vol. XXX, No. 6, p. 1461.