UN General Assembly
1976

42. The greatest concern to my delegation, however, is with respect to the deadlock that has arisen in the formulation of a regime and a machinery to regulate the exploration and exploitation of the sea-bed resources beyond the limits of national jurisdiction. Kenya believes that a solution can be found by correctly reflecting the Declaration of Principles Governing the Sea-Bed and the Ocean Floor, and the Subsoil Thereof, beyond the limits of National Jurisdiction contained in General Assembly resolution 2749 (XXV), adopted without objection in 1970, which declared that area and its resources to be the common heritage of mankind. A system of exploitation which only pays lip service to this concept of the common heritage of mankind, while restricting effective exploitation to the developing countries with the necessary capital and technology, is unlikely to receive general acceptance.