Can an international treaty be forged to protect the earth’s atmosphere?
Firm precedence exists that nations can establish rules to control abuse of global common use areas. One of those agreements, referred to as the Law of the Seas, dates back to the 1600s when the Dutch philosopher and jurist Hugo Grotius gained wide acceptance for his proposition that the open seas were like the air, a common property of all.
“The air belongs to this class of things for two reasons,†Grotius argued in Latin for his Mare Liberum. “First, it is not susceptible of occupation and second, its common use is destined for all men. For the same reasons the sea is common to all, because it is so limitless that it cannot become a possession of any one, and because it is adapted for the use of all, whether we consider it from the point of view of navigation or of fisheries.â€
Grotius’ idea persisted, and found its way into a 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea. It went into full force and effect when it was ratified by the required number of nations in 1994.
If there is reason enough to consider the oceans as common use areas, surely the same would apply to the air, as Grotius made clear.
And the Law of the Seas is not the only precedent.
The Antarctic Treaty, signed by parties to the agreement in Washington, DC on December 1, 1959, could be a blueprint for how to manage the thin layer of gases that keep our planet habitable. Covering the entire continent, the treaty created “a natural reserve, devoted to peace and science†to benefit humanity in its entirety.
Although Antarctica is the only large landmass that falls within an international framework for protections as a global commons, there is growing recognition that other parts of the planet deserve that as well. The Global Commons Alliance has proposed “a plan for the planet†that aims to restore stability to the earth’s capacity to sustain life.