WHY IS THE CONSERVATION OF BIOLOGICAL DIVERSITY A “COMMON CONCERN OF HUMANKIND”?Yangfan: WuAbstract 'Common area', 'common heritage of humankind' and 'common concern of mankind' are the three concepts that define the rights and obligations of states in managing the common resources under international environmental law. I clarify why the conservation of biodiversity belongs to the âcommon concern of mankindâ, and the resulting implications in defining the rights and obligations of states in biodiversity conservation. A state has sovereign rights over its biological resources, and other states have an obligation to admit this. Nevertheless, there are no absolute sovereign rights. The state has to use its biological resources in a sustainable way. The core implication is that states should cooperate in managing this issue of common concern. |