Belonging to all, governed by all: recasting the global commons through democratic governance

Many of the most pressing environmental problems, including climate change, various forms of pollution and ocean acidification, take place in, or are closely linked to, the areas beyond national jurisdiction called the global commons (i.e., the oceans and deep seabed, Antarctica, outer space and the atmosphere). Moreover, the benefits derived from the use of the global commons (e.g., from the exploitation of resources) is deeply inequitable. This article argues that the root of these issues lies in the negative conceptualisation of these spaces. The global commons are broadly defined by one single feature: the absence of sovereignty. First, this constructs these spaces as politically and technologically contingent. Second, it creates a presumption towards the freedom to exploit these spaces. Legal regimes that seek to govern these spaces can constrain this foundational presumption but ultimately remain subject to this negative conceptualisation. Therefore, this article argues for a positive conceptualisation of the global commons, rooted in democratic governance. That is, to construct each global commons as a ‘genuine’ global commons, i.e., as shared ‘nonproperty’ (belonging to all, owned by no one), where decisions are made through global democratic processes, and which exist for the benefit of all.