Research Seminar - Dr Colin Mackie

Research Seminar - Dr Colin Mackie
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This is a past event

'Financial Security and the Inducement of Investment in Pollution Prevention by Corporations'

Dr Colin Mackie from the University of Aberdeen will speak on, 'Financial Security and the Inducement of Investment in Pollution Prevention by Corporations', as part of the Law School's research seminar series 2013-14.

This paper explores the capacity of financial security, more specifically, insurance, self-insurance and bonds, to induce investment in pollution prevention by corporations. The ‘traditional’ remediatory objective of financial security – to ensure that the polluter has sufficient funds to pay for damaged caused – rightly maintains central importance in the decision over the most appropriate measures to cover environmental liabilities. However, this paper contends that policy makers should not underestimate the capacity of financial security to facilitate and encourage investment in pollution prevention. The potential for surrogate regulation derives from the commercial imperative of third-party providers to minimise the risk of having to ‘pay-out’ under a policy or meet an obligation guaranteed. It is concluded that the financial security measures which are more effective at inducing investment in pollution prevention offer market-based incentives (e.g. differentiated premiums or reduced bond values) for the implementation of appropriate safety processes and practices.

Speaker
Dr Colin Mackie
Hosted by
School of Law
Venue
Taylor A19