Which of the following statements are incorrect about the Global commons?

A. The earth's atmosphere, Antarctica, ocean floor and outer space are considered as the part of Global commons.
B. Commons are those resources which are owned by a particular state/country.
C. There are some areas or region of the world which are located outside the sovereign jurisdiction of any one state.
D. The developing countries of the South want every one to be equally responsible for ecological conservation.
E. There have been many path breaking agreement such as 1959 Antarctic Treaty and 1987 Montreal Protocol

Choose the correct answer from the options given below:

B and D only

The correct answer is Option 3: B and D only

Given statements:

A. The earth's atmosphere, Antarctica, ocean floor and outer space are considered as the part of Global commons.
B. Commons are those resources which are owned by a particular state/country.
C. There are some areas or region of the world which are located outside the sovereign jurisdiction of any one state.
D. The developing countries of the South want everyone to be equally responsible for ecological conservation.
E. There have been many path breaking agreement such as 1959 Antarctic Treaty and 1987 Montreal Protocol.

Explanation:

‘Commons’ are those resources which are not owned by anyone but rather shared by a community. This could be a ‘common room’, a ‘community centre’, a park or a river. Similarly, there are some areas or regions of the world which are located outside the sovereign jurisdiction of any one state, and therefore require common governance by the international community. These are known as res communis humanitatis or global commons. They include the earth’s atmosphere, Antarctica, the ocean floor, and outer space.

Cooperation over the global commons is not easy. There have been many path-breaking agreements such as the 1959 Antarctic Treaty, the 1987 Montreal Protocol, and the 1991 Antarctic Environmental Protocol. A major problem underlying all ecological issues relates to the difficulty of achieving consensus on common environmental agendas on the basis of vague scientific evidence and time frames. In that sense the discovery of the ozone hole over the Antarctic in the mid-1980s revealed the opportunity as well as dangers inherent in tackling global environmental problems. 

The developed countries of the North want to discuss the environmental issue as it stands now and want everyone to be equally responsible for ecological conservation. The developing countries of the South feel that much of the ecological degradation in the world is the product of industrial development undertaken by the developed countries. If they have caused more degradation, they must also take more responsibility for undoing the damage now. Moreover, the developing countries are in the process of industrialisation and they must not be subjected to the same restrictions, which apply to the developed countries. Thus the special needs of the developing countries must be taken into account in the development, application, and interpretation of rules of international environmental law. This argument was accepted in the Rio Declaration at the Earth Summit in 1992 and is called the principle of ‘common but differentiated responsibilities’.