The Common Heritage Principle:

• Published in: American Journal of Economics and Sociology
• Main Author: Bernard P Herber
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: unknown
• Subjects: Antarctic; The Antarctic; Antarc*; Antarctica
• Online Access: https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1536-7150.1991.tb03335.x

Abstract An effort is underway to apply the common heritage principle to certain unique global resources while promoting economic development Under this precept, property rights to such resources are said to belong to all nations and their citizens rather than being subject to national sovereignty The doctrine is examined in theory and as applied in the outer space and law of the sea treaties Its possible application to Antarctica is explored in relationship to the Antarctic Treaty System (ATS) which is now considering a minerals regime for the continent Assessing the international political situation suggests the powerful bloc of ATS nations will ignore the common heritage principle However, a different outcome is possible, given a convergence of the Antarctic mining and global atmospheric issues of the greenhouse and ozone varieties Under this scenario, the global atmosphere and Antarctica would be common property resources whose property rights are owned by all nations