Corporate Legal Liability for Environmental Damage from Carbon Contracts

Abstract

This research aims to examine the issue of corporate civil liability for environmental damage resulting from carbon contracts, given the expanding use of these contracts as legal and economic tools to regulate carbon emissions. The study focused on explaining the nature of civil liability arising from a contract concluded between parties, or from the negligence of a legally responsible party in the event of damage resulting from a harmful act.

The study focuses on the theory of unusual neighborhood harm as a legal basis for claiming compensation, which imposes on anyone who causes unusual harm to their neighbors or the community to bear the consequences, even if they committed no fault. The study addressed the "ordinary person" standard for assessing damage, explaining that damage is considered unusual if it exceeds what people are accustomed to under the same circumstances, regardless of the individual's specific circumstances. Residential areas, for example, differ from industrial areas in their tolerance for a certain level of pollution. Furthermore, the study explored the theory of risk as a modern basis for environmental liability. The study demonstrated that this theory applies to hazardous industrial activities that are likely to cause widespread environmental damage, such as carbon-related industries. According to this theory, a company bears liability simply because of the damage, without the need to prove negligence or dereliction.