Marine Biodiversity Management from the Global Commons: Analysing the Expanded Scope of Common Heritage of mankind Principle

The overall governance and scope of the global commons under the new BBNJ Agreement concluded under the UNCLOS 1982, spans from recognising the historical rights and the fair and equitable division, sharing, and allocating resources and the benefits deriving from it. Additionally, assessing the value of ‘user rights’, ‘value’ as a property and as a resource’, recognising the ‘communal ownership or rights if any’, and the ‘cost of acquiring and enforcing property rights’ are to be addressed while enforcing the governance system for the global commons. In this context, the chapter will look into the nature of MGRs for the existing property concepts for the ‘common resources’. This paper analyses whether the customary principles and approaches could answer the issues, including sustainability in exploration and exploitation, access regulation, and ensuring fair and equitable sharing of benefits, are in concurrence with the philosophical principles, justifications, and international regulations in the areas beyond national jurisdictions and considered as common heritage of mankind.