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7 LegalResponses toClimateChange… 191
bereturnedorotherdamagedone.Satisfactionrelatestomeasuressuchasapologies,
usually limited to reparation for symbolicharms.
Foraclaimforreparationtobesuccessful, it is,presumably,necessarytoestablish
thatanactivityhascausedharminawaythattheharmwouldnothaveoccurredwith-
out the activity. The causal link betweengreenhouse gas emissions and its adverse
impacts isa longandcomplexone,whichwillmakethisargumentdifficult toestab-
lish.Yet, the lawof state responsibility appears slightlymoreflexible in this regard
thanmanynational legal systems.Rather thanastrict limitation to the“direct”con-
sequence, injuryininternational lawisextendedtoanyconsequenceunless it is“too
indirect,remote,anduncertaintobeappraised”(TrailSmelterArbitration:1931;ILC
2001:92,para.10).Assessingthevalueoftheinjuryonthebasisofwhichcompensa-
tionshouldbepaidwouldhoweverfacemanydifficulties.Particulardamageswould
have tobe attributed to climate change in abstraction from themultitudeof natural
or social processes in which they unfold. Things that have no inherent economic
value(e.g.humanlives,health,culture,ecosystems)wouldhavetobegivenone(see
chapterbySerdeczny2018).Thevalueoffutureharmswouldneedtobediscounted
at anarbitrary rate.Responsibilitywould thenneed tobeallocatedamongstateson
thebasisoftheirrespectiveshareofthewrongdoing,despitetheindeterminacyofthe
thresholdbeyondwhichgreenhousegas emissionsbecomeexcessive andwrongful
andthecontributionoftheinjuredstate toitsdamages(seee.g.Reis2011:183).This
would lead tonever-endingcontroversies, nullifying the roleof international law in
settling internationaldisputes throughpacificmeans.
However, such a perilous analysismaynot be necessary.When concluding that
responsibility for an internationally wrongful act involves an obligation to make
“full reparation,” theInternationalLawCommissionreferredto theusualpracticeof
international courtsand tribunalsdealingwith relativelysmallquantumofdamages
(ILC2000: 2). Like in theNaulilaa case (Responsabilité de l’ Allemagne à raison
des dommages causés dans les colonies portugaises du sud de l’Afrique), larger
injuries—suchas reparations forwars andothermass atrocities, for unlawful trade
measures, fornation-wideexpropriationprogramsorforhazardousactivities—have
never led to full reparation, but rather toanagreementon lump-sumcompensation.
Relevant judicial decisions or international negotiations considered the capacity of
theresponsiblestatetopay,theneedoftheinjuredpartiesforreparation, thepossible
disproportionof the injury to the“culpability”of the responsible state, and the lim-
its of the fundaments for a collective responsibility (Mayer 2017; Eritrea-Ethiopia
ClaimsCommission:522, para. 22;Mayer2016a).The InternationalLawCommis-
sionhaspromoted in itsworkon theallocationof loss in thecaseof transboundary
harmarisingout of hazardous activities an approach to balance the interests of the
responsibleand the injuredparty (ILC2006:58ff).
Loss and Damage from Climate Change
Concepts, Methods and Policy Options
- Titel
- Loss and Damage from Climate Change
- Untertitel
- Concepts, Methods and Policy Options
- Autoren
- Reinhard Mechler
- Laurens M. Bouwer
- Thomas Schinko
- Swenja Surminski
- JoAnne Linnerooth-Bayer
- Verlag
- Springer Open
- Datum
- 2019
- Sprache
- englisch
- Lizenz
- CC BY 4.0
- ISBN
- 978-3-319-72026-5
- Abmessungen
- 16.0 x 24.0 cm
- Seiten
- 580
- Schlagwörter
- Environment, Climate change, Environmental law, Environmental policy, Risk management
- Kategorien
- International
- Naturwissenschaften Umwelt und Klima