Geoscience Reference
In-Depth Information
should help those states lacking the capacity to participate in space activities and analysed
in the light of profit-oriented sector dynamics, such as that of data generated by the remote
sensing activities of states. In this context, of relevance and importance are the efforts of
the Working Group on Ethics of Outer Space, set up by the UNESCO World Commission
on the Ethics of Scientific Knowledge and Technology (COMEST).
As to the 1979 Moon Agreement, the debate on the exploitation of lunar resources
is characterized by profound divergences with respect to application of the common herit-
age of humankind approach, according to which only the owner of the common resources
(mankind) is entitled to authorize the appropriation of a part of them to individual users.
This debate encompasses discussions over private property rights, license of use, and the
negotiation of a possible new Moon treaty and presents analogies with the regulation of re-
sources of the Area .
Considerations on the sustainability of space activities are also presented in the
chapter. In this regard, it is critical to remove obstacles that hamper the implementation of
space treaties and to further elucidate pressing issues such as an environmental approach to
space activities, in particular, with regard to space debris. The editor notes a similarity in
the current debate on the law of the sea in relation to the need to remove obstacles to im-
plementation and to clarify further how best to deal with issues such as the environmental
impact of human activities in marine areas beyond national jurisdiction.
While different branches of international law can inform and influence each other,
this does not necessarily imply an automatic acquisition in a given branch of previous ex-
perience gained and solutions found in another given branch. A general analogy remains,
however, due to the fact that these issues belong to the categories of problems of areas bey-
ond national jurisdiction, and scholars acquainted with the two regimes will continue bene-
fiting from reciprocal stimulation.
