Legal Aspects of User Charges on Global Environmental Goods | Umweltbundesamt

International airspace and the High Seas constitute global environmental goods (open-accessgoods), the use and consumption of which do not fall under the jurisdiction of any national sovereign body. Open-access-goods are primarily characterized by the non-rivalry of consumption and their non-exclusiveness, that is: they can be used by anyone virtually without restrictions. Airspace and the High Seas are classic examples of such common goods. They are over-used because the laws governing access to them are underdeveloped.