Global commons

Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.

Global commons is a term typically used to describe international, supranational, and global

atmosphere and outer space and the Antarctic in particular.[1] Cyberspace
may also meet the definition of a global commons.

Definition and usage

"Global commons" is a term typically used to describe international,

The term "commons" originates from the term

English common law. Enclosure was the process that ended those traditional rights, converting open fields to private property. Today, many commons still exist in England, Wales, Scotland, and the United States, although their extent is much reduced from the millions of acres that existed until the 17th century.[5] There are still over 7,000 registered commons in England alone.[6]

The term "global commons" is typically used to indicate the earth's shared natural resources, such as the deep

polar regions, the Antarctic in particular.[7]

According to the World Conservation Strategy, a report on conservation published by the

World Wildlife Fund
(WWF):

"A commons is a tract of land or water owned or used jointly by the members of a community. The global commons includes those parts of the Earth's surface beyond national jurisdictions — notably the open ocean and the living resources found there — or held in common — notably the atmosphere. The only landmass that may be regarded as part of the global commons is Antarctica ..."[8]

Today, the

common heritage of mankind.[10]

Management of the global commons

The key challenge of the global commons is the design of governance structures and management systems capable of addressing the complexity of multiple public and private interests, subject to often unpredictable changes, ranging from the local to the global level.

There are several key differences in management of resources in the global commons from those of the commons, in general.

externalities
between more local resource uses and uses of global-level resources.

Several

environmental protocols have been established (see List of international environmental agreements) as a type of international law, "an intergovernmental document intended as legally binding with a primary stated purpose of preventing or managing human impacts on natural resources."[16] International environmental protocols came to feature in environmental governance after trans-boundary environmental problems became widely perceived in the 1960s.[17] Following the Stockholm Intergovernmental Conference in 1972, creation of international environmental agreements proliferated.[18] Due to the barriers already discussed, environmental protocols are not a panacea for global commons issues. Often, they are slow to produce the desired effects, tend to the lowest common denominator, and lack monitoring and enforcement. They also take an incremental approach to solutions where sustainable development
principles suggest that environmental concerns should be mainstream political issues.

The global ocean

The global or

, and the transportation of passengers and goods by sea. However, these bodies of law do little to nothing to protect deep oceans from human threats.

In addition to providing significant means of transportation, a large proportion of all

feet
) in length.

At a fundamental level, marine life helps determine the very nature of our planet. Marine life resources provide food (especially

Shorelines are in part shaped and protected by marine life, and some marine organisms even help create new land.[21]

The United Nations Environment Programme (

Pew Charitable Trusts Environmental Initiative program has identified a need for a worldwide system of very large, highly protected marine reserves where fishing and other extractive activities are prohibited.[23]

Atmosphere

The atmosphere is a complex dynamic natural gaseous system that is essential to support life on planet Earth. A primary concern for management of the global atmosphere is

ecosystems
.

Pollution of breathable

European Community (EC) countries. It is also known as extended producer responsibility (EPR). EPR seeks to shift the responsibility dealing with waste from governments (and thus, taxpayers and society at large) to the entities producing it. In effect, it attempts to internalise the cost of waste disposal into the cost of the product, theoretically resulting in producers improving the waste profile of their products, decreasing waste and increasing possibilities for reuse and recycling
.

The 1979

Montreal Protocol on Substances that Deplete the Ozone Layer, or Montreal Protocol (a protocol to the Vienna Convention for the Protection of the Ozone Layer), is an international treaty designed to protect the ozone layer by phasing out the production of numerous substances believed to be responsible for ozone depletion. The treaty was opened for signature on 16 September 1987, and entered into force on 1 January 1989. After more three decades of work the Vienna Convention and Montreal Protocol were widely regarded as highly successful, both in achieving ozone reductions and as a pioneering model for management of the global commons.[24]

global warming
.

Framework Convention on Climate Change (FCCC) pledged to work toward "stabilisation of greenhouse gas concentrations in the atmosphere at a level that would prevent dangerous anthropogenic [i.e., human-induced] interference with the climate system" (as of 2019 there were 197 parties to the convention, although not all had ratified it).[26] The 1997 Kyoto Protocol to the FCCC set forth binding obligations on industrialised countries to reduce emissions. These were accepted by many countries but not all, and many failed to meet their obligations. The Protocol expired in 2012 and was followed by the 2015 Paris Agreement in which nations made individual promises of reductions. However, the IPCC concluded in a 2018 report
that dangerous climate change was inevitable unless much greater reductions were promised and carried out.

Polar regions

The eight Arctic nations

Antarctic Treaty and related agreements, collectively called the Antarctic Treaty System or ATS, regulate international relations with respect to Antarctica, Earth's only continent without a native human population. The treaty, entering into force in 1961 and currently having 50 signatory nations, sets aside Antarctica as a scientific preserve, establishes freedom of scientific investigation and bans military activity on that continent.[28]

Climate change in the Arctic region is leading to widespread ecosystem restructuring.[29] The distribution of species is changing along with the structure of food webs. Changes in ocean circulation appear responsible for the first exchanges of zooplankton between the North Pacific and North Atlantic regions in perhaps 800,000 years. These changes can allow the transmission of diseases from subarctic animals to Arctic ones, and vice versa, posing an additional threat to species already stressed by habitat loss and other impacts. Where these changes lead is not yet clear, but are likely to have far-reaching impacts on Arctic marine ecosystems.

Climate models tend to reinforce that temperature trends due to global warming will be much smaller in Antarctica than in the Arctic,[30] but ongoing research may show otherwise.[31][32]

Outer space

Management of

Armstrong line
).

spy satellites and anti-satellite weapons. It also encompasses government regulation of third-party activities such as commercial communications satellites and private spaceflight[33] as well as the creation and application of space law and space advocacy
organizations that exist to support the cause of space exploration.

The growth of all tracked objects in space over time[34]

Scientists have outlined rationale for governance that regulates the current free

e.g. oceans on Earth. The study concluded in 2022 that it needs "new policies, rules and regulations at national and international level".[35][34]

Policies

The Outer Space Treaty provides a basic framework for international space law. It covers the legal use of outer space by nation states. The treaty states that outer space is free for all nation states to explore and is not subject to claims of national sovereignty. It also prohibits the deployment of nuclear weapons in outer space. The treaty was passed by the United Nations General Assembly in 1963 and signed in 1967 by the USSR, the United States of America and the United Kingdom. As of mid-year, 2013 the treaty has been ratified by 102 states and signed by an additional 27 states.

Beginning in 1958, outer space has been the subject of multiple resolutions by the United Nations General Assembly. Of these, more than 50 have concerned the international co-operation in the peaceful uses of outer space and preventing an arms race in space. Four additional space law treaties have been negotiated and drafted by the UN's Committee on the Peaceful Uses of Outer Space. Still, there remain no legal prohibitions against deploying conventional weapons in space and anti-satellite weapons have been successfully tested by the US, USSR and China. The 1979 Moon Treaty turned the jurisdiction of all heavenly bodies (including the orbits around such bodies) over to the international community. However, this treaty has not been ratified by any nation that currently practices crewed spaceflight.

In 1976 eight equatorial states (

, a claim to control the segment of the geosynchronous orbital path corresponding to each country. These claims are not internationally accepted.

The International Space Station

The

Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA), European Space Agency (ESA), and Canadian Space Agency (CSA). National budget constraints led to the merger of three space station projects into the International Space Station. In 1993 the partially built components for a Soviet/Russian space station Mir-2, the proposed American Freedom, and the proposed European Columbus merged into this multinational programme.[36] The ownership and use of the space station is established by intergovernmental treaties and agreements. The ISS is arguably the most expensive single item ever constructed,[37]
and may be one of the most significant instances of international cooperation in modern history.

According to the original Memorandum of Understanding between NASA and the RSA, the International Space Station was intended to be a laboratory, observatory and factory in space. It was also planned to provide transportation, maintenance, and act as a staging base for possible future missions to the Moon, Mars and asteroids. In the 2010 United States National Space Policy, it was given additional roles of serving commercial, diplomatic[38] and educational purposes.[39]

Internet

As a global system of

good
.

The resultant

freedom of expression as any public space. Access to those digital commons and the actual freedom of expression allowed does vary widely by geographical area. Management of the electronic global commons presents as many issues as do other commons. In addition to issues related to inequity in access, issues such as net neutrality, Internet censorship, Internet privacy, and electronic surveillance arise.[40]
However, the term global commons generally represents stateless maneuver space, where no nation or entity can claim preeminence, and since 100 percent of cyberspace is owned by either a public or private entity, although it is often perceived as such, cyberspace may not be said to be a true global commons.

See also

References

  1. ^ "Global Commons". Archived from the original on 2015-09-23. Retrieved 2015-09-23.
  2. .
  3. .
  4. .
  5. .
  6. ^ DEFRA Database of registered common land in England Archived 2014-11-29 at the Wayback Machine
  7. .
  8. ^ "" Chapter 18, The global commons." World Conservation Strategy, International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources, accessed 22 May 2009" (PDF). Archived (PDF) from the original on 21 July 2011. Retrieved 22 May 2009.
  9. ^ "Raymond, Mark (2012). "The Internet as a Global Commons?" Governing the Internet: Chaos, Control or Consensus? The Centre for International Governance Innovation (CIGI)". Archived from the original on 2013-04-26. Retrieved 2013-06-30.
  10. .
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  14. .
  15. ^ Kanie, Norichike (2007). "Governance with Multi-lateral Environmental Agreements: A healthy or ill-equipped fragmentation?" Global Environmental Governance: Perspectives on the Current Debate, Walter Hoffmann and Lydia Swart (eds.): 67-86. New York: Center for UN Reform Education.
  16. ^ Haas, Keohane and Levy (1993). Institutions for the Earth: Sources of effective international environmental protection. Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
  17. ^ Zürn, Michael (1998). "The Rise of International Environmental Politics: A Review of Current Research." World Politics, 50(4):617-649.
  18. ^ Urbina, Ian (July 31, 2015). "Protecting the Untamed Seas". The New York Times. Retrieved Jan 14, 2021.
  19. S2CID 154990993.{{cite journal}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link
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  20. from the original on 2020-01-04. Retrieved 2019-12-18.
  21. .
  22. ^ "Global Ocean Legacy". Environmental Initiative, Pew Charitable Trusts. Archived from the original on 18 July 2013. Retrieved 1 July 2013.
  23. ^ [ozone.unep.org "UN Environment Programme - Ozone"]. Retrieved 5 December 2019. {{cite web}}: Check |url= value (help)
  24. ^ Keneth L. Denman; Guy Brasseur; et al. (2007). "Couplings between changes in Climate System and the Biogeochemistry, 7.5.3" (PDF). IPCC. Archived (PDF) from the original on 2011-03-15. Retrieved 2008-04-09.
  25. ^ "Article 2". The United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change. Archived from the original on 28 October 2005. Retrieved 5 December 2019. Such a level should be achieved within a time-frame sufficient to allow ecosystems to adapt naturally to climate change, to ensure that food production is not threatened and to enable economic development to proceed in a sustainable manner.
  26. ^ "Chronological lists of ratifications of, accessions and successions to the Convention and the related Agreements". United Nations Division for Ocean Affairs and the Law of the Sea. April 22, 2009. Archived from the original on 14 April 2009. Retrieved April 30, 2009.
  27. ^ "Information about the Antarctic Treaty and how Antarctica is governed". Polar Conservation Organisation. December 28, 2005. Archived from the original on March 8, 2011. Retrieved February 6, 2011.
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  30. S2CID 10453943. Archived from the original on 2012-09-07. Retrieved 2012-08-08.{{cite journal}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link
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  31. .
  32. .
  33. ^ .
  34. ^ "Orbital space around Earth must be protected amid rise in satellites, say scientists". The Guardian. 22 April 2022. Retrieved 13 May 2022.
  35. .
  36. ^ "How Much the International Space Station (ISS) Cost to Build". whatitcosts.com. 14 April 2016. Archived from the original on 16 June 2012. Retrieved 3 July 2013.
  37. ^ Payette, Julie (10 December 2012). "Research and Diplomacy 350 Kilometers above the Earth: Lessons from the International Space Station". Science & Diplomacy. 1 (4). Archived from the original on 12 October 2013. Retrieved 3 July 2013.
  38. National Archives
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  39. .

External links

Further reading