‘We need to act for the Amazon and act for our planet,’ said Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau when fires ravaged the Amazon rainforest in August 2019. He was joined by many Western countries in preaching the virtues of protecting the ‘global common’ for combating climate change.

But the Western world’s concern for the global commons seems to limit itself, so far, to the sensitive ecosystems in the southern hemisphere. Thus, there is an international treaty to protect the Antarctic, which puts an indefinite ban on mining and hydrocarbon extraction. Furthermore, there is a long-standing demand, pushed by the G7 countries, for an international treaty to protect the tropical forests because they are the most biodiverse regions and ‘Lungs of Earth’.