The Legal Concept of Environmental Damage in Onshore Oil Pollution: International Perspectives and Challenges in the Al Wahat Districts of Libya

Abstract

The evolution of environmental damage has been examined in this paper, and how this evolution has impacted the way onshore oil pollution is treated under Libyan law, focusing particularly on Al Wahat Districts. The shift in perspective from a human-centric perspective, which limits harm to individual and property interests, towards an acceptance of a legal definition of environmental damage based on a balance of ecology and communal interests is highlighted. The international legal regime that addresses environmental damage includes the Lugano Convention, the CLC / FUND regime and the US Oil Pollution Act of 1990, and a brief overview of their different definitions of environmental damage and of limitations on the claim for compensation. From the information gathered in this review of historical developments, it is evident that Libyan law does not contain a clear and adequate definition of environmental damage and therefore will not be able to deal effectively with the hidden, cumulative, long-term and collective aspects of oil pollution resulting from onshore oil production in desert land. Empirical research into the experience of Al Wahat District, Libya, establishes a need to find an adequate legal definition of environmental damage that considers ecological, economic and social factors and a transition from an approach to compensating injuries resulting from wrongdoing to an approach based upon objective liability, the establishment of collective remedies, and the application of the principle "polluter pays", as a means of creating the conditions necessary for achieving adequate compensation and environmental justice in Libya through the introduction of legislation.