Innovation and International Commons: The Case of Desalination Under International Law

The potential importance of desalination is evident in a passing glance at a globe. While water itself is not scarce, 97% of the Earth’s water is salt water, and 2.7% of the remaining fresh water is virtually inaccessible in the polar ice caps or deep underground aquifers. The abundance of salt water and relative scarcity of freshwater has made the pursuit of technology to remove salt from water a centuries-old quest for the Holy Grail of water supply. Indeed, Aristotle was one of the first scientists to experiment with desalination technology.

Technology that could tap into the blue vastness of the globe may hold the key to avoiding water resource conflict in the future.