SUMMARY The UN's record on the global commons is mixed: remarkable success in arresting the damage done to the ozone layer, a promising start in confronting the threat of global warming, but a protracted failure, at its Third Law of the Sea Conference, in the search for a generally acceptable regime to govern sea‐bed mining. This failure is now somewhat redeemed by the 1994 agreement which, however, heavily favours the sea‐bed miners. Overall, the UN seems better at averting threats to the commons than at sharing the benefits from exploiting them; but it has shown an admirable capacity to learn from its mistakes.