Antarctic Act, 2013 (Cap. 15 of 2013).

This Act provides principally with respect to preparation for and response to environmental emergencies in the Antarctic, giving in part effect to the Annex VI to the Protocol on Environmental Protection to the Antarctic Treaty - Liability arising from environmental emergencies. It also amends the Antarctic Act 1994 in respect of conservation of the environment and animal and plant life. The Act among other things: requires those who organise activities carried out in Antarctica, where those activities are connected with the United Kingdom, to take reasonable, prompt and effective response action in relation to any environmental emergency arising directly or indirectly from those activities; provides that where the Crown, or a person specifically authorised by the Crown, undertakes response action after an environmental emergency arising from activities organised by a person based in the United Kingdom, or from activities connected with the United Kingdom, the Government is entitled to recover the costs of such actions; exempts the Crown and the other Parties to Annex VI from liability under this section for any failure on their part to take response action to environmental emergencies arising from their own activities; requires the organiser of activities in Antarctica, where those activities are connected to the United Kingdom, to take reasonable preventative measures designed to reduce the risk of environmental emergencies arising from those activities and their potential adverse impact and to develop a contingency plan.