Channeling of Liability: Shall Arctic States Be Liable for Environmental Harm in the Arctic Caused by Navigation or Polluter Pays Principle Should Prevail?

Daria Boklan ()
Additional contact information
Daria Boklan: National Research University Higher School of Economics

A chapter in Arctic Fever, 2022, pp 451-469 from Springer

Abstract: Abstract The Arctic region is subject to the undisputed jurisdiction of Arctic states and for the most part environmental protection in that area is based on national environmental laws, although these may implement international environmental obligations. Liability for environmental harm coursed to the Arctic ecosystem by navigation is one of such international environmental obligations. This chapter addresses the issue of channeling liability for environmental harm caused by navigation in the Arctic. Specifically, it focuses on the interplay between the strict liability of Arctic states and strict liability of the polluter under polluter pays principle. The author of this chapter argues that as soon as Article 234 of the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) provides Arctic states with special rights to control navigation beyond the limits of their territory (in the exclusive economic zones) in the Arctic Ocean such navigation should be considered as an activity under control or jurisdiction of Arctic states. Consequently, Arctic states should be considered as “states of origin” of such an activity. Further, the author submits that the right of Arctic states to control navigation beyond the limits of their territory should be balanced with strict liability for environmental harm caused by such navigation. Such strict liability of Arctic states should in its turn be balanced with the strict liability of the operator of navigation set forth by the polluter pays principle. This international legal regime is a combination of the right to control navigation on the one hand and strict liability for environmental harm coupled with the polluter pays obligation of the operator on the other hand could provide an appropriate balance between rights and obligations of all actors in the Arctic and effective prevention of environmental harm caused by navigation.

Keywords: Arctic; Arctic states; Environment; Pollution (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2022
References: Add references at CitEc
Citations:

There are no downloads for this item, see the EconPapers FAQ for hints about obtaining it.

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:spr:sprchp:978-981-16-9616-9_17

Ordering information: This item can be ordered from
http://www.springer.com/9789811696169

DOI: 10.1007/978-981-16-9616-9_17

Access Statistics for this chapter

More chapters in Springer Books from Springer
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Sonal Shukla () and Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing ().