Geoscience Reference
In-Depth Information
ploitation,bypublicorprivateentities,orprohibitthecommercialization ofsuchresources,
provided that such exploitation is compatible with the principle of a common heritage of
mankind'.
The ownership of extraterrestrial property is indeed not relevant to the profitability of
extraction of resources. Some authors shift the focus towards the uses of extraterrestrial re-
sources, rather than on the claim of property ownership. Thus the focus is on the profitab-
ility of the resources even in the absence of property rights. Various examples concerning
private entities extracting resources from property that does not belong to them are taken
intoconsideration (e.g.grazing leases onpublic land,offshoreoilplatforms, loggingrights,
It is worth noting that the law of the high seas allows the freedom of all states, includ-
ing nationals subject to the state's jurisdiction, to exploit the marine resources located in the
water column beyond national jurisdiction. It follows that this freedom corresponds with a
freedom of exploitation.
In terms of the exploitation of natural resources, the Moon Agreement only bans the
appropriation of resources
in situ
, which are incorporated in the soil or subsoil of the Moon
in their natural status. For this reason, the acquisition of the valid legal title of property
after their extraction from the soil is generally deemed admissible.
Conversely, there is no doubt that state responsibility for activities carried out by its
nationals (private individuals and legal persons, governmental and non-governmental en-
tities), as provided for by Article VI of the OST, guarantees compliance with the OST. Any
activity must be conducted under the authorization and continuing supervision of the 'ap-
propriate' state, which should enact national legislation. However, in the absence of territ-
orial sovereignty, domestic law could not be applicable and indeed it is applicable only to
space objects by means of registration. As a consequence, the state of registry maintains
jurisdiction and control over the registered space object (OST, Art. VIII).
Furthermore, itisimportant toalsostressthatanypossiblesolutionmustbeincompli-
ance with the legal principles and criteria of sustainable development and the environment-
al approach of international law, indicated by the 1972 Stockholm Declaration and 1992
