Protect Natural Commons

In the past, for many centuries, man lived under social control. They lived under tyrannies of priests, military dictators, and kings. At times, certain privileged groups enjoyed personal freedom as the Roman citizens in the Roman Empire. But most of the people lived as slaves, serfs, and subjects. Then came the age of great discoveries and inventions where man acquired better control over nature. They began to utilize it more vigorously for their own benefits. With this change also came a growing belief in the rights and powers of the individual. Through evolution, as well as through revolution, the personal freedom of man was established.

All of us benefit from the geological resources. We are probably wearing several geological products: Plastics, including glasses and synthetic fabric, are made from oil; iron, copper, and aluminum mines produce your snaps and zippers, and perhaps the chair you are sitting on: silver, gold, and diamond mines may have made our jewelry pieces. We also share responsibility for the environmental and social impacts of mining and drilling. Fortunately, there are many ways to reduce these costs, including recycling and using alternative materials.

International law identifies four global commons: the High Seas, the Atmosphere, Antarctica, and the Outer Space. These resource domains are guided by the principle of the common heritage of mankind. Resources of interest or value to the welfare of the community of nations – such as tropical rain forests and biodiversity - have lately been included among the traditional set of global commons. At the same time, some define the global commons even more broadly, including science, education, information, and peace. The implementation of the common heritage principle and common responsibilities relate directly to the four critical enabling factors identified as cornerstones of the Post-2015 development agenda: inclusive social development, inclusive economic development, environmental sustainability, and peace and security.

Historically, access to most of the resources within the global commons has been challenging and has not been scarce. However, the advancement of science and technology in recent years and the increased demand for resources are leading to increased activities such as fisheries, bio-prospecting, navigation, flight, scientific research, and the laying of submarine cables. At the same time, our planet is facing critical environmental challenges, most notably climate change and global warming, the depletion of the Ozone layer, and rapid environmental degradation in Antarctica. If business as usual prevails, these trends will likely worsen and will negatively impact the global commons’ capacity to provide ecosystem services for human well-being. The international community acknowledges the need to conserve these resource domains for development and human well-being and has adopted several conventions and treaties to govern global commons. They include the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) of 1982 and instruments controlled by the International Maritime Organization and UNEP’s Regional Seas Conventions to govern the high seas; the Antarctic Treaty System (ATS) ensuring the protection of the Antarctica flora and fauna; a multitude of international environmental treaties that administer and protect the atmosphere and deal with the air pollution and atmospheric depletion, like the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) and the Montreal Protocol on Substances that Deplete the Ozone Layer; and the Treaty on Principles Governing the Activities of States in the Exploration and Use of Outer Space.

The Global Environment Facility (GEF) is the largest single provider of grant funds to developing countries for projects that help protect and improve the regional and global environment. GEF co-financed projects often also promote sustainable livelihoods in local communities in developing countries. During its first 15 years, the GEF has approved more than $6.2 billion in grants. Of this amount, the World Bank Group has committed $3.1 billion for about 450 projects in more than 100 developing countries and countries with economies in transition. These projects span GEF’s six focal areas, each concerned with a complex global environmental issue—biodiversity, climate change, international waters, land degradation, ozone-depleting substances, and persistent organic pollutants. The GEF is the designated financial mechanism for three international conventions on biological diversity, climate change, and persistent organic pollutants (POPs). It is one of the established financial mechanisms for the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification.

The economic architecture of the modern world rests on assured access to the Global Commons. Keeping the Commons open to all will require international cooperation, doctrine, strategies, and concepts. Technology has succeeded in nature: we have become more powerful. We have NOT become more powerful! The whole idea is just fallacious; we have not become more powerful. We are becoming weaker every day because natural resources are being exhausted. Sooner or later, the earth will be empty. It will not grow anything. We are not becoming powerful; we are becoming weaker and weaker every day. We are on the deathbed. Humanity cannot survive how it has been behaving with nature for more than fifty years, sixty years, or, at the most, one hundred years – which is nothing. If the Third World War does not happen, we will commit slow suicide. Within a hundred years, we will be gone. Not even a trace will be left. Man will not be the first to disappear. Many other animals, powerful animals, have vanished from the earth.

A significant milestone reflecting Bhutan’s commitment to environmental conservation and sustainable development is the inclusion of a separate Article on the environment in the Constitution of Bhutan. One of the provisions under Article V states, “the Government shall ensure that to conserve the country's natural resources and to prevent degradation of the fragile mountain ecosystem, a minimum of sixty percent of Bhutan's total land shall be maintained under forest cover for all time.”

The main problem associated with natural resources is unequal consumption. Most natural resources are consumed in the ‘developed’ world. The ‘developing nations’ are also overusing many resources because of their more significant human population. However, the consumption of resources per capita (per individual) in developed countries is 50 times greater than in most developing countries. Advanced countries produce over 75% of global industrial waste and greenhouse gases. In developed countries, energy from fossil fuels is consumed relatively much more significantly. Their per capita consumption of food is much more significant than their waste.