Common Heritage Corporation's mission is to meet the challenges of satisfying the world's greatest basic needs by creating economically and environmentally sustainable habitats based upon deep ocean water (DOW).

We are managing innovation for the common heritage, an important international law concept. As the frontrunner in developing and demonstrating new DOW technologies, CHC utilizes integrated systems developed by the corporation and its partners to bring new life to the people and lands caught up in the trap of water, food, and energy shortages.

The term common heritage was legally defined for the first time in the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea, which came into force in 1994 after several decades of development. On July 28 of that year, the UN General Assembly voted to enact the agreement. The Convention’s entry into force, which put the legal concept of the common heritage in international law, occurred a few months later on November 16, 1994, when a sufficient number of countries ratified the agreement.

The corporation is organized as a for profit corporation of the State of Hawaii, with the purpose of establishing self-sufficient environmentally, economically, and culturally sustainable communities in coastal zones and islands having access to deep ocean water.

CHC's ability to carry out its mission is based on the combined scientific, technical, legal, and organizational experience and abilities of the president and the board of the Common Heritage Corporation, and associated colleagues with special expertise.