Liability and Compensation Regimes: Pollution of the High Seas

Abstract

The chapter considers potential legal gaps relating to the liability of private companies for pollution of the high seas arising from traditional shipping activities and the exploitation of the seabed, but also in the context of discussions about biological diversity of areas beyond national jurisdiction (bbnj). It examines possible compensation models for the high seas, such as the imo compensation systems (backed by liability insurance), voluntary industry schemes, administrative sanctions (e.g. through the isa) and the various types of environmental trust funds envisaged in the bbnj discussions (and tried, with varying degrees of success, in relation to Antarctica and climate change).