Search

Climate change and the Covid-19 pandemic have been classified as systemic risks and have elaborated that such systemic risks will become the new normal. Ways to tackle the long-term effects of climate change include law and environmental policy. In addition, insurance can help mitigate the burden placed on governments when such systemic risks occur, including pandemics. In relation to the Covid-19 pandemic and the effects of long-Covid, sports and exercise are examined as a mitigating factor able to release pressure from public health and help mitigate its long-term effects. This article discusses the correlation of Covid-19 with environmental changes and climate changes and goes on to address the role of insurance, on the one hand and sports and exercise on the other hand as mitigating mechanisms to handle systemic risks such as climate change and pandemics. The article’s findings suggest and conclude that 1) outside state action (law and policy), private action such as change in lifestyle towards a more sustainable way of life, and sports and exercise can help with the long-term effects of pandemics and 2) insurance can act as a mitigating private sector mechanism. Governments should integrate law, policy, and mitigating techniques such as private insurance to tackle and respond to systemic risks. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Climate change and the Covid-19 pandemic have been classified as systemic risks and have elaborated that such systemic risks will become the new normal. Ways to tackle the long-term effects of climate change include law and environmental policy. In addition, insurance can help mitigate the burden placed on governments when such systemic risks occur, including pandemics. In relation to the Covid-19 pandemic and the effects of long-Covid, sports and exercise are examined as a mitigating factor able to release pressure from public health and help mitigate its long-term effects. This article discusses the correlation of Covid-19 with environmental changes and climate changes and goes on to address the role of insurance, on the one hand and sports and exercise on the other hand as mitigating mechanisms to handle systemic risks such as climate change and pandemics. The article's findings suggest and conclude that 1) outside state action (law and policy), private action such as change in lifestyle towards a more sustainable way of life, and sports and exercise can help with the long-term effects of pandemics and 2) insurance can act as a mitigating private sector mechanism. Governments should integrate law, policy, and mitigating techniques such as private insurance to tackle and respond to systemic risks. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Post the Deepwater Horizon (DWH) incident, offshore energy insurance underwriters reassessed their risk exposures in response to newly perceived operational risks involving blowouts, fires, explosions, lost control of well and other non-hurricane risks. Already in the aftermath of the DWH incident, it has been noted that it would be crucial to consider the willingness of the global offshore energy insurance market to participate in efforts to establish and fix a new liability limit for environmental pollution liability insurance. In relation to the approach followed by the USA administrations, this has been fragmented, with the current administration in office introducing a moratorium on new oil and gas leasing on federal lands and waters and in terms of its policy relating to its climate agenda. Against this background, this article describes the insurance implications of environmental pollution liability in case of offshore drilling operations incidents (such as the DWH) resulting in major oil spills. In doing so it discusses in detail the legal framework and the position in the EU and draws a comparison with other jurisdictions. It also contains proposals for future measures so as to be able to offer better insurance coverage for such offshore drilling disasters, such as the introduction and collection of data on damages, or an EU wide and an international agreement especially focusing on offshore-related incidents with a transboundary character, as well as a mechanism to facilitate early compensation payments to potentially vulnerable victims. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Carbon capture, use and storage (CCUS) has the potential to significantly reduce carbon emissions, however, because CCUS technology almost exclusively aims for carbon mitigation without co-benefits, this expensive technology has not been widely adopted. In order to make this technology viable, a robust regulatory and legal regime is required both internationally and within the European Union (EU). A comprehensive insurance system is also required to ensure that efficient running of CCUS. With this understanding in mind, this article analyses the regulatory regime governing CCUS both internationally and in the EU and also the law governing insurance of this technology. It argues that whilst European regulation has improved with respect to filling regulatory gaps, a number of gaps are identified which still need to be closed. In addition, the article will argue that special insurance coverage for specialized risks must be in place to diminish any environmental impact and hazard, including cyber-related risks that need to be identified and insured to be properly handled and adequately covered to allow for the successful deployment of CCUS. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The principle of independence and impartiality has been formed, over the course of time, into a well-established and simultaneously into a fundamental duty of the arbitrator. However, the question, which arises, pertains to what kind of duty it is, namely either a legal duty or one resembling professional ethics. As the case is with judges, arbitrators also shall not be biased or even give the impression of being biased. Unlike judges, however, arbitrators are nominated by the parties to the arbitration and therefore, concerns with regards to possible bias or lack of impartiality are likely to be raised to a greater extent. The principal triptych, which overrides this multifaceted subject, concerns mainly questions of disclosure, repeat appointments and apparent bias. The arbitrator’s duty to remain unbiased and impartial is stipulated as a soft law rule in the IBA Guidelines of 2014, which serves as the point of reference and according to which there has to be an equilibrium between the principle of party autonomy and the tribunal’s independence. In the present paper, a critical analysis is conducted as to the formation of the landscape regarding arbitrator’s bias, before and after the landmark decision of the Supreme Court in Halliburton Co v Chubb Bermuda Insurance Ltd (2020) UKSC 48. The lessons to be learned from this judgment are comparatively assessed alongside the position of arbitration laws of England, India, and China, and by illustrating how the duty has been incorporated and appeared in arbitration practice through the lenses of the arbitration laws in each of the examined legal regimes. Resultantly, the Arbitration Act 1996, the Arbitration and Conciliation (Amendment) Act, 1996, the Chinese Arbitration Law as well as the China International Economic and Trade Arbitration Commission (CIETAC) Rules, which apply to foreign-related arbitrations, will be analyzed in conjunction with case-law in the above-mentioned jurisdictions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Due to unprecedented fires and rise in temperature climate change is occurring rapidly, melting the Arctic ice and uncovering new areas for expropriation of natural resources. Such expropriation needs to occur in a sustainable way, respecting the environment and the indigenous people. To achieve this, all inherent risks arising from any environmental threat (oil spill/any type of environmental accident, cyber risks of any nature) to oil and gas installations need be identified and environmental liability and cyber-risks insurance coverage need be in place. This article discusses the way for such insurance coverage to be placed and worded. It argues that the traditional (marine and other) property insurance policies coverage and wording is inefficient, as it ends up being fragmented due to the numerous policy exclusions and limitations; it also puts forward an argument for the need to have specific wording and cover for specialized risks, in relation to the operation of oil and gas installations in the Arctic and cyber-risk threats, taking into account potential environmental impacts and hazards. This article also argues that for the time being, as businesses and governments including those of the EU and the Member States become increasingly reliant on technology, it is imperative that additional cyber-related risks are identified and minimized or transferred externally. Finally, it offers some suggestions about cybersecurity policies covering specialized risks. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Given the high pace of acceleration with which climate change is occurring, the unprecedented amount of floods and fires and the extremely high temperatures of the last years, new habitable and exploitable areas are bound to increase as a result of the extremely rapid ice melting in the Arctic. These areas will allow the exploration of natural resources and the use of new navigation routes in shipping. The Arctic region is rich in natural resources, but, at the same time, faces challenges due to its sparse population, limited logistical networks, and fragile environmental conditions; hence, any future sustainable growth and development in it should address the need to build sustainable infrastructure and explore and expropriate the natural resources sustainably, in an effort to achieve transformation towards an inclusive green economy that respects the indigenous peoples and their communities and lifestyle. This article not only synthesizes the existing literature on the topic of the impact of climate change on the Arctic, but also discusses and analyses the ways in which any exploration and exploitation of natural resources and any increased shipping activity in the Arctic should take place, in the light of the impact of climate change. By bringing together different literatures - on the Arctic exploration, legal regulation and Arctic shipping - not usually considered together, it analyses and discusses the multiple social and environmental effects of climate change in the region and its indigenous populations, and, finally, proposes policy options and legislative and other measures so as to best meet the various challenges imposed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article examines the issues faced by commercial ships that encounter vessels and persons in distress at sea. It focuses on the obligations of the flag States of ships with regard to people in distress at sea under United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) and the other maritime conventions and under any applicable human rights conventions such as the Refugee Convention. It mentions about the rescue of migrants and refugees at sea.

The article discusses the procedural, damages and other substantive issues in international energy industry and investment-related arbitrations that has been growing rapidly since the mid-1990s. It states that arbitration is the most preferred method of dispute resolution for international investors who need simplified procedures. It cites the potential of discounted cash flow (DCF) as a method to compute damages in the industry even if the company lack a record of historic profitability.

The financial impact of the April 20th, 2010 explosion and sinking of the "Deepwater Horizon" in the Gulf of Mexico is estimated to overall eclipse the financial impact of the Exxon Valdez oil spill in 1989. In spite of having managed to contain the "Deepwater Horizon" oil spill nevertheless, the environmental liability and other legal ramifications of the disaster continue to loom large. We examine the legal consequences that the environmental pollution owed to the explosion and sinking of the "Deepwater Horizon" bears and, in doing so, also draw conclusions and lessons to be learned. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article discusses the latest developments concerning the April 2010 decision of the Albanian Supreme Court to reject the 2009 Maritime Delimitation Agreement between the Republic of Albania and the Republic of Greece as of November 2010. The case was filed by the opposition Socialist Party of Albania, claiming that the agreement violates the Albanian constitution due to various reasons including the flawed merits of the treaty. The agreement covers the continental shelf and maritime borders of Albania and Greece in the Ionian Sea.

The article discusses the issue concerning the award of punitive damages in arbitration. It criticizes and analyzes the position in Great Britain and in the U.S. in relation to punitive damages. It concludes that punitive damages should be awarded to prevent breaches of contract in cases of the unavailability of compensatory damages.

For Europe, shipping has always been a key factor for its economic growth. The EU has a longstanding commitment to open and fair competition in shipping and also to quality shipping, hence its support for specialized international organizations and its strong and growing network of bilateral maritime agreements and dialogues with key shipping and trading partners, which purport to the maturing of its comprehensive strategic partnership with third states. The maritime transport agreement of 2002 between the Commission, the Member States, and China and the various ongoing EU bilateral negotiations at regional level are good examples of such agreements, which -- whether implicitly or explicitly characterized as mixed -- bear features of mixity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The availability of technology for the exploitation of resources originating from the sea bed, as well as the need to define the boundaries of national jurisdiction, has resulted in an increase in coastal states' claims over adjacent maritime areas. The primary mechanism used for the resolution of issues concerning disputed maritime boundary delimitation areas is negotiation; nevertheless, alternative resolution mechanisms, i.e., litigation in state court and arbitration, are at times also chosen for the resolution of such disputes. This article critically discusses the procedure of international arbitration for the settlement of maritime boundary delimitation disputes and disputes arising from joint development agreements for the exploitation of offshore natural resources. It is shown that in the resolution of such disputes, arbitration offers even more advantages than litigation in state court; e.g., it offers a relatively higher degree of control over the composition and control of the arbitral tribunal, a relatively shorter and quicker duration of the proceedings and, not least, closed and private proceedings. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article discusses the court cases Wasa International Insurance Co. Ltd. versus Lexington Insurance Co. and AGF Insurance Ltd. versus Lexington Insurance Co. involving issues of back to back insurance coverage, deductible and defence costs in Great Britain. The claimants argued that they were not liable to indemnify Lexington under a contributing facultative reinsurance contract. The Court of Appeal judge held that a reinsurer has no obligation to indemnify the reinsured under English law.