Global Commons, UNCLOS and MPAs Flashcards
What are global commons?
Resource domains/ areas which lie outside political reach of any one nation-state.
Why are global commons easily exploited?
The advantage of the individual is greater than being shared between many.
The view assumes humans act selfishly, often considering only the short-term.
What is the tragedy of the commons?
A metaphor that illustrates how individuals can over-exploit a resource in common ownership (e.g fish) leading to its depletion or degradation. Individuals neglect the well-being of society in pursuit of personal gain.
This leads to over-consumption and eventually depletion of the common resource to everyone’s detriment.
How can global commons be protected from overexploitation? Examples?
They can be protected by multiple public and private interests by international law and clear rules of global governance.
Examples include:
-> 1982 UN Convention on the Laws on Sea (UNCLOS)
-> 1967 Outer Space Treaty and 1979 Moon Treaty
-> 1961 Antarctica Treaty
-> 1992 UN Framework Convention on Climate Change
What is the principle of common heritage of humankind?
It is an international norm which holds that defined territorial areas should be held in trust for future generations and be protected from exploitation by individual nation states and corporations.
What is the 1967 Outer Space Treaty and the 1979 Moon Treaty?
-> UNOOSA (1967): Signed during detente, it banned nuclear weapons and the testing of weapons in space or on the moon.
-> 1979 Moon Treaty: Provided for demilitarisation of the moon and other celestial bodies, declaring the moon and its resources to be a “common heritage of mankind.”
What is the 1961 Antarctica Treaty?
It stops governments from claiming all/ a portion of Antarctica as a sovereign state beyond 7 claims made already: Argentina, Chile, France, New Zealand, Norway, UK.
Bans all military activities from Antarctica.
Designates it as a global lab for scientific research, guaranteeing rights of all states to establish research stations.
Today, there are about 1000 people in Winter and 5000 in Summer. 1/4 are based at the US McMurdo station (lab), and there are 75 other labs run by other countries.
Governing the Arctic Ocean?
UNCLOS also set out rules around the Arctic ocean:
- All states have a common right to maritime navigation.
- Common rights to ocean fisheries begin 200 nautical miles from the shore baseline. (Can fish for one’s own benefit).
- Common rights to ocean’s mineral resources begin only 650 km from shore (must be exploited in keeping with seabed’s status as ‘common heritage of mankind’).
