the close interrelationship of the problems of ocean space which must be considered as a whole.
Many provisions of the Convention, due to political compromise, in fact, contradict this concept. To separate the peace/security dimension of the Common Heritage concept and to turn it over to a completely different body -- the Disarmament Committee in Geneva - was certainly inconsistent. The economic and environmental dimensions are inseparable from the peace/security dimension.
They must be considered as a whole by an institutional arrangement capable of comprising both. Equally inconsistent, and probably unsustainable, is the separation of the international sea-bed from the rest of the ocean system by postulating that the Common Heritage concept is to be applied only to the deep sea-bed, with no effects on the rest of the system which is to remain subject to the ancient regime of freedom of the high seas and sovereignty over coastal waters. It will be the task of the next generation to resolve these contradictions. They will be aided by the remarkable fact that the two concepts, that of the Common Heritage of Mankind and that of the close interrelationship of the problems of ocean space which must be considered as a whole are indeed enshrined in the Preamble to the Convention which has become part of International Law.
Sustainable Development
The Brundtland Report Our Common Future carries the basic concepts of the Law of the Sea Convention one step further, with the new emphasis on sustainable development.
Sustainable development comprises the economic and environmental dimensions of the Common Heritage concept. The ethical dimension is maintained by the emphasis on equity and the eradication of poverty as a condition for making development sustainable. Only the peace/security dimension is left out, remains unmentioned, although it is self-evident that neither economic development nor the protection of the environment can be pursued in the absence of peace and security..
Just as in the case of the Common Heritage concept, the integration of the various dimensions of the sustainable development concept implies an integrated, trans-sectoral and interdisciplinary approach. This has generated the concept of
Integrated coastal and ocean management
spelled out particularly in Agenda 21 and assumed as a precondition for the implementation of all the conventions, agreements and programmes adopted by the Earth Summit in Rio, 1992, or derived from it ("the UNCED Process").
The "coastal area," at the interface between land and sea, is seen as a highly complex system, and this gives rise to two further basic concepts underlying the philosophy of ocean governance:
Uncertainty and the Precautionaty Principle
Uncertainty is a concomitant of the new, "science paradigm" that has been emerging since the end of World War II.
