Polluter Pays Principle: Essential Element of Environmental Law and Policy

Environmental Law is one of the fastest growing aspects of law. It is commonly accepted that those who cause damage or harm should pay, in one way or another for such damage. Such damage can be to body, society or our environment. Due to absence of sanctions in environmental law, it became difficult to keep a check on harmful activities. This required the introduction of a penalty to punish people who caused harm to the environment. This gave rise to what we know today as “Polluter Pays Principle”. The principle means that the cost of pollution should be paid by the polluters and not by their governments. This principle is considered to be the most efficient environment policy and has been included in various regional and international agreements on pollution. The concept of polluter pays has been in existence even before the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) adopted it as a recognised principle of environmental law. The research paper explores the applicability, advantages and disadvantages of the polluter pays principle while also looking at the incorporation of the principle in the Indian environmental domain.