Natural Resources and Problems of Development
| Date | 01 March 1974 |
| Author | Per Antonsen |
| DOI | 10.1177/001083677400900115 |
| Published date | 01 March 1974 |
| Subject Matter | Articles |
Natural
Resources
and
Problems
of
Development
PER
ANTONSEN
The
author
focuses
on
problems
in
the
economy
of
the
developing
countries
likely
to
arise
as
a
consequence
of
mineral
exploitation
in
the
new
territories.
A
general
shortage
of
mineral
resources,
although
predicted,
should
not
uncritically
be
adopted
as
a
sufficient
explanation
of
the
demonstrated
interest
of
industrial
enterprises
in
undertaking
heavy
investments
in
the
new
territories.
The
economic
security
claimed
by
institutions
financing
large-scale
investments,
may
just
as
likely
force
the
companies
to
seek
options
for
long-term
supplies
from
these
areas,
unhampered
by
the
politically
caused
instabilities
perceived
in
the
Third
World.
This
develop-
ment
may
tend
to
push
the
developing
countries
into
the
role
of
subsidiary
suppliers
in
the
world
market.
The
committees
preparing
the
UN
Conference
on
the
Law
of
the
Sea
have
so
far
taken
no
realistic
measures
to
counteract
this
possibility,
which
may
prove
detri-
mental
to
the
economies
of
several
developing
countries.
The
Conference
will,
in
the
opinion
of
the
author,
provide
little
but
a
settlement
of
disputed
interests
among
the
coastal
states.
The
coming
UN
Conference
on
the
Law
of
the
Sea
has
attracted
considerable
pub-
lic
attention.
As
a
coastal
state
Norway
belongs
to
a
group
of
nations
seeing
a
number
of
vitally
important
issues
under
UN
treatment,
and
it
is
as
a
coastal
state
we
seek
to
influence
the
negotiations.
The
matters
at
stake,
from
a
Norwegian
point
of
view,
have
primarily
been
the
questions
concerning
the
fishing
zones,
the
sover-
eignty
and
the
extension
of
the
continental
shelf,
and
the
freedom
of
navigation.
In
my
view
institutions
and
mass
media
have
been
occupied
by
these
questions
to
such
an
extent
as
to
push
into
the
background
problems
of
a
more
global
character.
The
question
of
how
and
where
econom-
ic
zones
should
be
delimited
will
naturally
become
essential
to
a
coastal
state,
but
we
should
be
aware
of
the
fact
that
these
border
lines
will
simultaneously
determine
the
extent
of
the
’common
heritage
of
mankind’
to
be
put
under
UN
management.
I
shall
therefore
try
to
point
out
a
problem
facing
another
category
of
UN
members,
namely,
the
mineral
producing
developing
countries,
in
the
context
of
the
UN
Con-
ference.
For
the
two
categories
of
states
men-
tioned,
the
problem
situation
will
turn
out
different
in
a
number
of
ways.
For
the
sake
of
simplicity
we
might
say
that
while
the
coastal
states
actively
seek
to
gain
economic
advantages
from
the
future
ar-
rangements,
the
developing
countries
ac-
tively
seek
to
reduce
the
disadvantages
of
the
same.
The
distinction
between
the
two
cate-
gories
of
states
may
not
be
very
sharp,
as
we
have
combined
interests
in
many
cases,
but
it
should
be
sharp
enough
to
place
the
economically
most
developed
and
inde-
pendent
states
in
one
group,
and
the
econ-
omically
most
underprivileged
and
depen-
dent
developing
countries
in
the
other.
I.
SOME
BACKGROUND
PROBLEMS
Among
the
items
of
the
working
program-
me
of
the
UN
Sea-Bed
Committee
we
find
the
following:
...
the
equitable
sharing
in
the
benefits
to
be
derived
from
the
area
(i.e.
sea
and
seabed),
bearing
in
mind
the
special
in-
terests
and
needs
of
developing
coun-
tries,
whether
coastal
or
landlocked.
...
the
economic
considerations
and
im-
plications
relating
to
the
resources
of
the
area,
including
their
processing
and
marketing.’
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