This book focuses on liability for damage to those natural resources that are of interest to the public and are protected by national, European or international law. It provides an overview of the law of the United States and of certain EU Member States on the recovery of damages for injury to natural resources. The international civil liability conventions that cover environmental harm and the recently published European Commission's White Paper on environmental liability are also discussed. The on-going development in various international forums of treaties or protocols dealing with liability for environmental damage are analyzed, as are the principles developed by the UNEP Working Group established in response to the 1990 Gulf War to advise the UNCC on claims for damage to natural resources.

Table of Contents:

Series Editors' Preface.
Preface and Acknowledgements.
List of Abbreviations.
1. Introduction.
2. Defining Natural Resource Damage.
3. Damage to Unowned Natural Resources. Standing and Cause of Action.
4. Statutory Liability for Damage to Natural Resources in the United States of America.
5. White Paper of the European Commission on Environmental Liability.
6. Recovery of Damages for Injury to Natural Resources under the Law of Some EU Member States (and Canada).
7. International Civil Liability for Damage to Natural Resources.
8. Concluding Remarks.
Bibliography.
Table of Cases.
Index.

1.   Introduction to the subject

The Amoco Cadiz oil spill (1978) affected more than two hundred kilometers of French coastline and adjacent nearshore waters. In response to the spill, claims were submitted by the French state and local governments (communes) for damage to unowned natural resources. The claim was an ‘attempt to evaluate the species killed in the intertidal zone by the oil spill and to claim damages in accordance with that value determination'. The claims were rejected by the U.S. court - which decided the case on the basis of French law - because the resources claimed to be damaged were ‘subject to the principle of res nullius and [is] not compensable for lack of standing of any person or entity to claim therefor'. The court concluded that ‘neither the [French] state nor the communes has standing to assert claims for damage to the ecosystem [..]'.

The above illustrates the legal problem that arises when harm is done to natural resources that are unowned. These natural resources have ‘public goods' characteristics because these resources - assuming there is no regulatory control - are in principle for use by everyone. If damage is caused to these natural resources, collective interests are primarily infringed. Damage to such interests is difficult to recover for under tort law because it is traditionally focused on individual material or immaterial interests. If damage is caused to the unowned parts of the environment, no personal interests have been infringed (at least not directly) and no one has standing to sue. This situation only changes where special laws or doctrines not only specifically provide standing to, e.g., governmental entities and public interest groups, but also give them a cause of action to claim compensation for such damage.