Environmental Damage in International and Comparative Law Problems of Definition and Valuation

This study considers the problems of defining and valuing "environmental damage" from the perspective of international and comparative law. The need for a broad and systematic evaluation of this issue is illustrated by the number of topics presently on the international law-making agenda towhich it is relevant, including the UN Compensation Commission's decisions on compensation for environmental losses suffered by Kuwait in the Gulf War, nuclear and oil pollution liability regimes, the development of an environmental liability protocol to the Antarctic Treaty and other agreements onbio-safety and genetically modified organisms. It is thus an important element in contemporary efforts to strengthen legal remedies for environmental harm which does not necessarily come within traditional categories of legally protected personal or property rights. The contributors include experts in national and international law, civil and common law, as well as in the laws of developed and developing states, an economist and a member of the UN Compensation Commission.

Alan Boyle has taught and practised International Law and International Environmental Law for over twenty years. Educated at Oxford, he taught at Queen Mary College, London, and is now Professor of Public International Law at Edinburgh University.
Mr Michael Bowman is a lecturer in law at Nottingham University