Legal Issues Surrounding Environmental Responsibility - Assignment Example

Student’s Name Professor’s Name Course Title Date of Submission Environmental Responsibility Environmental responsibility has become a leading legal issue in the world today. Private and public organizations are required to undertake their operations with minimal damage to the environment. As such, numerous legal frameworks and policies have already been developed to ensure that individuals and organizations are held accountable for their actions that could potentially damage the environment. The following paper aims at discussing numerous legal issues surrounding environmental responsibility. 1) What are the three conditions for a liability claim to be engaged? Liability claims are a common issue when it comes to environmental responsibility. Individuals and environmental organizations are constantly making liability claims against government and other private businesses. A liability claim is considered as holding one accountable for someone else’s damage or injury. In terms of the environment, an organization can be held liable for damage to the environment. For instance, pollution of rivers and water can bring about liability claims against a company dumping hazardous waste in the river. Nonetheless, not all claims are qualified or meet the required standards to allow for proceedings or judicial action. Apparently, there three conditions that must be met in order for a liability claim to be engaged. The first condition is that the liable party is deemed to be negligent. This means that the individual or organizations that are held accountable must have done or conducted its operations in a manner that it should not have done. Moreover, it also means that the individual or organizations failed to do something it should have done. Negligence is a key concern since only negligence can bring about claims of responsibility. This means that if an organization fails to do something or does not do something that they are required to do, they are being negligent. Moreover, it is from this negligence that damage is likely to arise. The second condition is that the damages or injuries that arise from claim must have been caused by the accused’s negligence. This means that any claims being made against an individual or organizations must have been caused their negligence and no other conditions or issues. This means that one cannot justify a liability claim if all the evidence or information presented does not illustrate the cause of the damages to be purely out of negligence. This is important in ensuring that some issues such as accidents or faults are not deemed to be out of negligence. However, where an organization fails to do something or does the wrong thing, the damages from such occurrence should be deemed as negligence. Lastly, a liability claim must also be within an area in which the party involved is not immune from liability. This means that an individual or businesses cannot be liable for an offence or damage that occurs in an area where they are immune from liability. With the increasing occurrence of globalization, companies are operating in different geographical regions around the world (Sands and Jacqueline 15). Therefore, not all companies or individuals can be held liable damages that fall outside their areas or in areas where they are immune from liability. Overall, these are the three main conditions that must be met for a liability claim to be engaged. 2) How can an Environmental damage be repaid? Environmental damages are common in today’s industrious world. Companies are polluting and damaging the environment in all manners. However, countries, businesses, and governments have been struggling with a solution on how to pay for environmental damages. Environmental damages are not natural, but human activities are responsible le for most of the environmental damage in the world. There are numerous ways that environmental damages can be repaid. The first legal method of repaying environmental damages is through cash fines. Individuals or organizations that are found to have caused environmental damages can be forced to make cash settlements that are used to restore the environmental damages that have caused. These fines are determined by the type, size, and extent of environmental damages. For instance, most companies that operate oil mining normally get fined millions of dollars whenever there is an oil spill. Environmental damages can go beyond destruction of rivers or forests. It can also include the destruction of communities that depend on the environment for their livelihoods. Therefore, in some cases, an organization can be required to set up a trust fund to help in community reconstruction as part of repaying the environmental damages occurred. Another method of repaying environmental damage is through taxation. Governments can impose levies on all organizations that emit greenhouse gases in their operations. In most countries, this is known as carbon tax (Sands and Jacqueline 62). Taxing such businesses ensures that the harmful gases they emit and harm the environment can be repaid in terms of taxation. In this case, most firms are encouraged to find alternatives or lower their overall impact on the environment. Another alternative to taxation that can repay environmental damages is through cap-and-trade schemes. The scheme allows for businesses to cut their environmental impacts directly by putting in place measures that can be verified and assessed. Again, the scheme also allows organization to purchase the right to continue polluting (Sands and Jacqueline 66). This means that companies can purchase permits or licenses from the government to allow them continue with their operations normally even if they are polluting the environment. The scheme has enjoyed implementation and use in most developed countries and regions such as the European Union. Although businesses may pay to continue polluting the environment, it is an effective way of ensuring that the damage can be repaid, thus it the funds can help in restoring the environmental damages. Overall, the debate on repaying environmental damages remains crucial. Policy and law makers should adopt an effective and efficient legislation and policy on how companies can repay environmental damages effectively. 3) Can the judge be concerned by the question of climate change? Climate change is a large topic and encompasses numerous issues surrounding environmental damages. Nonetheless, climate change has become a popular topic among law makers and the overall legal field. Climate change is a complex issue when it comes to law since it involves events and issues that have taken more than decades to occur. For instance, rise in sea levels and temperature has taken decades. Additionally, no one can be held liable for the effects of climate change. Nevertheless, there is still need for concern, since numerous issues are at play for climate change to occur. Therefore, the judge should be concerned about climate change in numerous varying levels. Firstly, the judge should understand that climate change stems from environmental damages caused by human activities (Ruhl 343). Increased emission of greenhouse gases is the leading cause of climate change. Therefore, the judge should always seek to understand the required policy and law concerning environmental pollution, carbon emission, and environmental protection. Judges in courts are faced with increased pressure from individual and organizational claimants to proceed with criminal hearings concerning environmental damages. Therefore, there is need to understand the current laws governing environmental damages. Furthermore, judges should be concerned with climate change based on the effects of climate change. The effects of human activities on the environment are transferred to other people. This is in terms of developing health problems, loosing homes, food, and even suffering injuries. Human activities are the foundation of climate change. Although climate change takes a certain period of time, it occurs through the process of continuous environmental damage. Taking the effects of climate change on communities is a key concern for all judges. Companies that pollute the environment cannot be left to go unaccountable based on the damages they cause to others and the environment. Moreover, the current world demands that companies act ethically and in that manner any action taken to pollute the environment is to be considered unethical until proven otherwise. Therefore, there is an increased need for judges to be concerned about climate change. Climate change has become more important than ever. From international to regional efforts, climate change has been at the center of all these events. Negotiations are taking place internationally to reach a solution for sustainable development as well as addressing climate change (Ruhl 343). Judges should also be ready to play their role in these efforts. Judges provide the ability to dispense justice especially for contentious issues such as the environment. In developed countries such as the U.S and U.K, judges rule numerous environmentally related cases that helps discourage other companies from damaging the environment. This means that judges also help in the campaign against climate change. As the debate surrounding climate change intensifies, it implies that new laws and regulations are being developed. Therefore, judges should be concerned with such issues to ensure that they are not left behind in terms of climate change laws. To sum up, the need to focus on climate change is paramount in the legal and justice field. Judges have an important role, which they cannot afford to ignore or assume. Despite the complexity of explaining climate change in legal manner, there are numerous interlinking factors that can be well explained and acted upon from a legal perspective. Overall, there is increased demand for all parties and stakeholder to come together in addressing the challenge of climate change and environmental responsibility. Works Cited Ruhl, J. B. "Climate change adaptation and the structural transformation of environmental law." Environmental Law 40 (2010): 343. Sands, Philippe, and Jacqueline Peel. Principles of international environmental law. 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