Without the sea, life on Earth would be impossible. Our planet would be a barren desert like Mars - about which, paradoxically, we probably know more than we do about the oceans. For the human imagination, the sea has always been a symbol of vastness and freedom. Now, at the close of the second millennium, competition for scarce resources is showing this freedom to have its limits. Growing demand is placing the marine environment and resources under increasing strain.
History teaches that scarcity can be the cause of conflict and war.
However, it may be hoped that the will today exists to shape our destinies otherwise. In an historic speech on 1 November 1967, Malta's Ambassador to the United Nations, Arvid Pardo, called for international regulations to prevent the oceans from becoming a theatre for escalating conflict between nations, to halt the poisoning of our oceans through negligence, and to protect its resources from exhaustion. His words did not fall on deaf ears. The United Nations General Assembly adopted a declaration providing that all sea-bed resources beyond the limits of national jurisdiction constitute the common heritage of mankind. But the value of legal instruments is dependent on how far they are respected and enforced.