Global Governance of Natural Resources and the British Empire: A Study on the United Nations Scientific Conference on the Conservation and Utilization of Resources, 1949

Abstract

A great deal of research has been conducted on the development of resource management and conservation in the British Empire. However, few studies explain how much and in what way colonial science impacted the beginning of the global governance of natural resources. This paper explores the process by which the global resource management scheme was designed in the United Nations and considers the impact of conservation ideas and practices in the British Empire. It mainly deals with the United Nations Scientific Conference on the Conservation and Utilization of Resources (hereafter UNSCCUR), which was held at Lake Success, New York in 1949. This conference brought together over 700 experts from 52 countries. Examining the agendas of the conference, this study suggests that the principal purpose of the UNSCCUR was an international exchange of ideas and experiences among experts, and the application of advanced scientific technologies to resource management all over the world. One of the critical points of this conference was the argument about natural resources in tropical, less-developed countries. There are two reasons why this topic was emphasized in the framework of global resource management and conservation. First, most natural resources in tropical regions were still under-developed, therefore it was essential, both nationally and internationally, to devise controls for long-term, efficient use. Secondly, Neo-Malthusian arguments and apocalyptic narratives, which were based on the rapid population growth in the less-developed countries, were widespread in scientific societies. Specifically, I pay attention to the discourse of the British and other European colonial and ex-colonial scientists in technical departments or research institutes, and explore how they recognized the local conditions, results and limits of the applied conservation measures. Their perspectives and experiences were utilized for preparing the blueprint for the technical assistance programs to the less-developed countries, on which the UN embarked.