International resource
Topic: Natural Resources: Classification, Planning and Sustainable Use · NCERT: Class 10, Ch 1 "Resources and Development"
Meaning
An international resource is controlled by international bodies, not by any single country. The best example is the ocean beyond 200 nautical miles from the coast, past the Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ), the sea belt where a country has special rights over resources. No country can use these resources without the agreement of bodies like the International Seabed Authority (ISA). The ISA is based in Kingston, Jamaica. It was set up in 1994 under UNCLOS 1982, the UN treaty on the law of the sea.
Example
India holds ISA contracts to explore for polymetallic nodules in the Central Indian Ocean Basin. These are lumps on the seabed that are rich in metals. India must follow ISA rules to work there.
Don't confuse with
- National resource: this includes the sea only up to 12 nautical miles (territorial waters), which belongs fully to the country.
Related concepts
- Community-owned resource
- Potential resource
- Developed resource
- Stock
- Reserves
- Tragedy of the commons