Tort, regulation and environmental liability

Abstract

This paper considers certain proposals made by the European Commission on environmental liability, particularly in itsWhite Paper on Environmental Liability. Civil liability has made a relatively minor contribution to environmental policy in recent decades, given its many well-known shortcomings when applied to environmental problems. Its usefulness, however, is being reassessed, given something of a consensus that traditional forms of regulation are reaching the limits of their effectiveness and that new approaches to environmental law are necessary. This paper will consider how the White Paper would move beyond the limitations of existing civil liability frameworks, in particular the fundamental incompatibility between the interests recognised in English tort law and the interests at stake in environmental protection. The Commission's recent retreat from the more ambitious elements of the White Paper may be a matter of concern.