In fact, the concept of common heritage of humankind, which was first applied to the deep seas under the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea, has been opposed by industrialised countries, particularly the United States. But what is most unfortunate is that even developing countries and their leaders have completely forgotten this perspective and have totally played into the hands of those who argue, in overly moral tones, that we must get together to solve the problems without first thinking about who actually owns these resources. It is very important for the simple reason that problems like ozone layer depletion, climate change or pollution of the deep seas will keep arising over and over again. Even if these problems are resolved, there will be other problems in the future and we will not have established proper management systems for these global resources. This is nothing new.
All governments recognise that natural resources have to be carefully managed at the national level.
But they want an open-ended regime at the international level because then the more powerful nations have greater access to these resources without any controls on their activities. It is extremely important, therefore, that developing countries and their governments wake up to this issue and start insisting on effective and just management systems for global natural resources. In Kyoto, developing countries are under pressure to undertake obligations to reduce their carbon dioxide emissions. A just and fair entitlement regime would show that developing countries are not using their fair share of the benefits of the global atmosphere. And, therefore, it is only a handful of countries which are not only using their own share of the benefits of the atmosphere but also using the share of other nations.