ABSTRACT

The common heritage of humanity (CHH) arose from two observations. First, some valuable natural resources, such as the ones managed under the fisheries governance, were close to exhaustion, and developing nations wanted to 45ensure that they had some degree of access before they were depleted. Second, the technological divide between developing and developed nations prohibited developing states from reaping the rewards that the developed nations would enjoy as technological advances enabled access to valuable new resource domains, unless technology transfer was enforced. The CHH concept has been the subject of debate in disciplines ranging from archaeology and economics to public international law, including space law and international environment law. It is treaty law in the 1982 Law of the Sea Convention of the United Nations, the 1983 International Understanding on Plant Genetic Resources, and has found expression in the controversial 1979 Agreement Governing the Activities of States on the Moon and Other Celestial Bodies.