Will the UNECE establish a more just system to protect victims
of accidental water pollution?
Geneva, 25 May 2007 -- Experience with industrial accidents causing
damage on transboundary waters has shown how difficult it is to receive
compensation in these situations. Civil claims very rarely succeed. If
there is a settlement, it is usually made out of court. The compensation
paid by the operator, if any, is usually much less than the amount of the
damage, and the actual compensation paid to victims comes to less than
10% of their claims. Clean-up costs are mostly borne by the State or municipality,
and only partially by the operator causing the damage, and t he restoration
of the environment remains incomplete.
In the case of the Baia Mare accident in Romania, seven years after 100,000
cubic metres of cyanide-polluted water were accidentally spilled in the Lapus
River and the contamination spread from there into the Szamos and Tisza rivers
and finally into the Danube, no compensation at all has been received out
of 143 million USD claimed by the Hungarian Government.
One of the main causes for such situations is the lack of a suitable legal
framework. It was precisely for this reason that the Protocol on Civil Liability
was adopted and signed in 2003. Since the Protocol’s adoption, however,
progress with its ratification has proved more difficult than expected.
A UNECE workshop on "Transboundary Accidental
Water Pollution, Liability and Compensation: Challenges and Opportunities" was organized
in Budapest on 21-22 May 2007, by Hungary in cooperation with Greece and
Switzerland, to discuss t he perceived difficulties to carrying out the
obligations of the Protocol, with a view to finding solutions.
First of all, the workshop cleared up certain doubts about the alleged incompatibility
of the Protocol with European Community and international legislation.
Another crucial topic was that of the mandatory financial security required
by the Protocol. These financial securities – insurance, bonds or other
financial guarantees – are intended to ensure compensation to victims
even in cases of operator insolvency, common in past accidents. The political
difficulties for States in imposing such mandatory financial security aside,
the products currently available in the insurance market are not adequate
for the Protocol. The workshop proved, however, that by forging cooperation
between the national and regional insurance and financial sectors, as well
as with industry, countries can in fact identify solutions to this problem
that are acceptable to all stakeholders.
Countries with economies in transition, which need the Protocol most,
are also those facing major challenges in terms of their financial – and
in particular insurance – sectors. Relevant legislation in these
countries likewise needs development. The workshop thus called for capacity-building
activities to assist authorities and administrative bodies. These activities
should be mainly focused on the development of the good administrative
and legislative practices needed to introduce appropriate liability regimes.
The conclusions of this workshop will be presented to the sixth Ministerial
Conference “Environment for Europe”, to be held in Belgrade
in October 2007.
For more information, please contact:
Francesca BERNARDINI
Secretary to the Convention on the Protection and
Use of Transboundary Watercourses and International Lakes
Palais des Nations,
office 313
CH - 1211 Geneva 10, Switzerland
Phone: +41 (0) 22 917 24 63
Fax: +41 (0) 22 917 01 07
E-mail: [email protected]
or:
Lukasz WYROWSKI
Officer in charge of the Convention on the Transboundary
Effects
on Industrial Accidents
Palais des Nations, office 427
CH - 1211 Geneva 10, Switzerland
Phone: +41 (0) 22 917 40 53
Fax: +41 (0) 22 917 01 07
E-mail: [email protected]
Website: http://www.unece.org/env/civil-liability/welcome.html
Ref: ECE/ENV/07/P04