The preamble of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), on the one hand, designates climate change and its consequences as the common concern of humankind and, on the other hand, affirms that states have the sovereign right to exploit their own resources. An important consequence of the common concern is that it globalises certain natural resources, which may be in conflict with the sovereign right of states concerning their natural resources. The UNFCCC is silent on

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... the manner in which this potential conflict should be dealt with. It is accordingly the primary objective of this essay to reconcile the aforementioned notions pursuant to the needs of the international community in the era of climate change. Thus, an analysis of the legal content and consequences of permanent sovereignty and the notion of the common concern provide an understanding of how the common concern moulds the sovereign rights of states over their natural resources in the current phase of globalisation. The author proposes that common concern results in the development of custodial obligations for states, which lead to the emergence of custodial sovereignty.