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• Dark Waters? The Place of Environmental Liability in the Environmental Policy Toolkit (Issues of Regulatory Methodology and Environmental Principles)

  42-66

  László Fodor

  Views:

  726

  The starting point of the study is that environmental liability is not only a tool of ex-post sanctioning and remediation, but also helps to enforce the principles of prevention and precaution. It examines the rules on liability for environmental damage in a broader context and links the various instruments of environmental policy by presenting their relationship to the environmental policy principles and typifying the policy instruments of environmental protection.

• Limits of Environmental Liability: Summary of the Guest Editor

  189-198

  Judit Pump

  Views:

  332

  This summary is an attempt to demonstrate that despite all the differences in how limits of environmental liability are perceived by the authors of this special issue due to different approaches to environmental liability, a common framework can nevertheless be drawn encompassing them all. Each article of the special issue elaborates some of the aspects of the concept of environmental liability. Despite the differences in the evaluation and assessment by the authors of the role of stakeholders and of the facts having an impact on the concept of environmental liability, it is shown that all of them are analysing the very same subject. The apparent differences are due to the different contexts in which environmental liability is examined and evaluated. Thus, the summary underlines that there is a need for system thinking related to environmental liability.

• Environmental Liability Law: Environmental Civil Experts’ view

  86-112

  Sándor Fülöp

  Views:

  310

  Environmental liability legislation, both the ELD in Europe and CERCLA in US, is burdened with significant compromises, but even if so, they are too leniently implemented. Moreover, rather scarce data are available on the liability cases and on the status of polluted sites, therefore the system is unable to amend itself. There is no reason to be surprised: expenses of protection or remedy of the polluted sites are enormous, the concerned industries would get into a poor competition position in the market if faced with too stringent liability. In the exceptional cases when their deeds are revealed and enforcement actions start, they still might retreat behind the bastions of limited responsibility of their companies. In such situations public participation is a vital element of any progressive outcomes. In the present study we examine the efforts of J&E, a network of public interest environmental lawyers to contribute to moving out the European environmental liability systems from their stalemate position and enhance their effectiveness.

• In Contrast: Responsibility for Environment and Regulation in Finance

  128-155

  Ildikó Bartha

  Péter Bordás

  Tamás Horváth M.

  Views:

  452

  The more environmental policy comes into the focus of fiscal policies of governments, the more prevailing are the interests in it influencing the governance as a whole. In the context of the European Union, the governmental role of the Member States’ increased less for initiating the (often invoked) environmental protection but such an increase is rather an end in itself. The responsibility for environment seems to represent the bright side, while the reality of financial regulations shows the dark side of government priorities.

• The Responsibility of the State in the Prevention and Management of Environmental Damage with Regard to Spatial Planning

  156-174

  Ilona Agócs

  Views:

  407

  The study aims to examine the constitutional responsibility of the State for environmental damage from a specific new perspective; it analyses its constitutional framework with regard to recent regulatory tools on spatial planning of the contaminated areas. To this end it briefly outlines the history of the remediation of areas falling within the State’s responsibility, its different regulatory and institutional models to date and the extent to which the newly introduced legal instrument in the act on formation and protection and of the built environment of brownfield action areas reflects this quarter-century process.

• The Development of ESG Regulation and the Measurability of the Social Dimension: International Trends and Domestic Challenges

  111-126

  Csaba Fási

  Views:

  250

  With the growing global interest in sustainability and corporate social responsibility, the application of ESG (Environmental, Social, Governance) criteria has gained a prominent role in corporate operations and investment decision-making. The research focuses on the development of ESG regulation, in particular the challenges of measuring the social (S) dimension. Although the regulation and assessment of environmental and governance factors have become increasingly standardized, the measurability of social aspects still raises several methodological problems. Previous research has highlighted the significant differences between ESG ratings and the difficulties of reliably measuring social performance, especially when using qualitative, subjective indicators. The aim of this study is to explore how the regulatory environment – ​​in particular the EU CSRD and the Hungarian ESG Act – can facilitate the harmonised assessment of the “S” dimension. The research is based on a document analysis and an examination of domestic regulatory frameworks. The results show that mandatory reporting and the introduction of the principle of dual materiality can improve the transparency and comparability of social impacts. However, the quality and reliability of reports can only be increased if companies operate appropriate internal control and certification systems. The research highlights the importance of measuring the “S” dimension and the need for regulatory support for it in order to achieve sustainable economic development.