WHO OWNS THE WORLD'S OCEANS AND ITS RESOURCES?
There are many resources which are not renewable and which we are going to spent completely and be left without them. So, there is a constant effort to find new sources. The scientists found out that the bottom of oceans are rich with useful deposits of minerals, oil, gas and other resources that humans need in their everyday life. This is how the exploitation of under-ocean wealth started.
However, who owns the oceans and their resources? The international law says that coastal countries, which have borders with oceans, have the right to exploit everything from the ocean 12 miles from their coast. In some cases, these countries have the right to use resources from the continental shelf which stretches from their territory under the ocean. However, this is only a narrow part of the ocean floor. What about the huge; mid-ocean floor which does not belong to any country's territory? The law says that the oceans belong to everybody and that we can all take benefit from them, if we are able to do that and if we know how to do it.
The problem is that mining minerals from the ocean's floor is very complicated and it requires new, expensive technologies which most of the countries can not afford and don't have. This means that only the richest and the most developed countries can get to the ocean's resources and use the ocean's minerals, oil and gas. This is not right, because everybody should have the right to use them. Undeveloped, poor countries would like to use part of these resources, as well, and they say that the rich countries should share this ocean's wealth with them! Of course, wealthy countries which invest lot of money in these projects don't see why should they share the profit, if they did all the work and spent all the money. This is a big international problem these days.
I think that I have an idea how to solve this dispute. I think that United Nations, as independent organization of all the countries should be in charge of all the Ocean's floor mining and exploitation. Each country would invest as much as it can and in this way a lot of money would be collected. All that money would be given to one, independent UN company which would develop necessary technology and which would be the only one to mine the ocean floor. Everything which would be collected from the Ocean's floor would be distributed evenly to all the countries of the World. This seems fair to me and I hope that the World will be able to agree how to use the Ocean's resources.
There are many resources which are not renewable and which we are going to spent completely and be left without them. So, there is a constant effort to find new sources. The scientists found out that the bottom of oceans are rich with useful deposits of minerals, oil, gas and other resources that humans need in their everyday life. This is how the exploitation of under-ocean wealth started.
However, who owns the oceans and their resources? The international law says that coastal countries, which have borders with oceans, have the right to exploit everything from the ocean 12 miles from their coast. In some cases, these countries have the right to use resources from the continental shelf which stretches from their territory under the ocean. However, this is only a narrow part of the ocean floor. What about the huge; mid-ocean floor which does not belong to any country's territory? The law says that the oceans belong to everybody and that we can all take benefit from them, if we are able to do that and if we know how to do it.
The problem is that mining minerals from the ocean's floor is very complicated and it requires new, expensive technologies which most of the countries can not afford and don't have. This means that only the richest and the most developed countries can get to the ocean's resources and use the ocean's minerals, oil and gas. This is not right, because everybody should have the right to use them. Undeveloped, poor countries would like to use part of these resources, as well, and they say that the rich countries should share this ocean's wealth with them! Of course, wealthy countries which invest lot of money in these projects don't see why should they share the profit, if they did all the work and spent all the money. This is a big international problem these days.
I think that I have an idea how to solve this dispute. I think that United Nations, as independent organization of all the countries should be in charge of all the Ocean's floor mining and exploitation. Each country would invest as much as it can and in this way a lot of money would be collected. All that money would be given to one, independent UN company which would develop necessary technology and which would be the only one to mine the ocean floor. Everything which would be collected from the Ocean's floor would be distributed evenly to all the countries of the World. This seems fair to me and I hope that the World will be able to agree how to use the Ocean's resources.
This is a very good idea Stefan! Well organized report and it is clear that you completed the research.Great work :)
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