The WHAT has defined governance as “the framework of social and economic systems and legal and political structures through which humanity manages itself”. The reports in this volume are derived from the work of three Commissions set up by the WHAT to study the governance requirements for water, fisheries and agricultural genetic diversity. These subjects were chosen because of the ‘global commons’ nature of their problems. Although different issues arise, they all relate to the resources that have been generally seen as being freely available for use by mankind. The common conclusion is that action is needed now, at both global and national levels, to improve radically the systems we have for governing the use of these resources. Innovations in governance such as new market mechanisms, systems for regional management of resources, public information and education initiatives and better linkages between government departments and across sectors are needed. The section on the governance of the world’s marine fisheries concludes that effective governance of fisheries requires the assignment of enforceable rights to shares of fisheries and also focuses on traditional rights as well as community based management systems on enforcing rights.