- Jan 18, 2023

Press release: Amb. Piet Steel on a mission trip to Princess Elisabeth Antarctica

Brussels – January 18th, 2023

Between January 7th and 15th, the Chairman of Europe – Asia Center Amb. (ret.) Piet Steel visited in his capacity as the Vice President of the Belgian Polar Secretariat on Antarctica the Princess Elisabeth base, the scientific base of Belgium in the Antarctic region. He was accompanied by Oliver Périer and Marc Speeckaert, Members of the Board of the International Polar Foundation (PEA), of which the Chairman, Alain Hubert is the Operator of the station.

During his visit he held several dialogue meetings in PEA, including with Barbara Creecy, Minister of Environment of South Africa and Olivier Poivre d’Arvor, French Ambassador of the Arctic and Antarctic Region.

His visit made significant impression and added to the understanding why PEA is widely seen as a benchmark in terms of renewable energies and CO2 emissions management. He spoke to several Belgian and international scientists using PEA is their base for field experiments and research on matters related to climate change such as meteorology, glaciology and meteorites. The Belgian Princess Elisabeth Station is overall regarded as a role model for which Belgium can be truly proud.

Europe – Asia Center is as part of its mission dedicated towards promoting dialogue on global challenges, and we look forward to initiating dialogue on topics of climate change that is most profoundly visible in the North and South Poles.