Liability for Land Damages due to Mining Activities: A comparative analysis of the legislation in selected Nordic countries with an outlook to Greenlandic law

Abstract: The increased globalization in all fields of law is largely noticeable in today’s society and the environmental legislation is no exception to this rule. Here, the use of different principles on international level is common. One such principle is the ‘Polluter Pays’ Principle (PPP). PPP stems from economic theory and aims to internalize the costs for negative environmental externalities and has been transposed into both international and national law. With basis on the expanding minerals industry in the Nordic countries as well as on Greenland during the last decade, the aim of the thesis has been to identify what liability an operator has for taking remedying actions for land damages due to mining activities. I have chosen to examine selected Nordic countries and Greenland by applying a legal dogmatic method, a comparative method and analytical jurisprudence. The results of the thesis show that there are numerous similarities and differences between the examined countries, but that the liability for remediation has been solved in a similar fashion in all countries. This is partly due to the EU environmental liability directive, but it is also a result of the similar type of legal techniques found in the examined countries; domestic (national) law is hardly domestic anymore. Internationally implemented principles affects not only national law, but indeed also European law, which in turn has implications for the EU Member States.