Legal Aspects of Environmental Damage -- Estimating Damages Under the 2004 EC Directive on Environmental Liability -- Environmental Damage and Belgian Law -- Compensation for Ecological Damage and Latvian Law -- International and Regional Funds for Compensation for Damage to the Marine Environment -- Scope of Compensation for Environmental Damage Under the 1992 Civil Liability Convention and the 1992 Fund Convention -- The Canadian SSOP Fund and Environmental Damage Assessment (EDA) in Canada -- The Impact of EC Decision-Making on the International Regime for Oil Pollution Damage: The Supplementary Fund Example -- Economic Valuation of Damage to the Marine Environment -- Economic Assessment of Marine Quality Benefits: Applying the Use of Non-Market Valuation Methods -- A Contingent Valuation Study of an Accidental Oil Spill Along the Belgian Coast -- Trade-Off Between Environmental and Socio-Economic Factors in the Belgian Part of the North Sea -- The Use of Mathematical Models for Estimating Oil Pollution Damage at Sea -- Socio-Economic Value of the Human Activities in the Marine Environment: The Belgian Case.

The contributions to this book are partly the output of a Belgian research project (1998-2002) and a related international conference (2003) on the topic "Marine Resource Damage Assessment and Compensation for Environmental Damage" (MARE-DASM). The aim of the conference was to compare research results with experiences and research of international experts in this domain. The approach is multi-disciplinary, as reflected in the choice of the individual contributions. The main focus of this book is on civil liability regimes to compensate for ecological/environmental damage (CLC 1992 – Fund 1992, Directive 2004/35/EC and national legislation in Belgium and Latvia), the impact of EC decision-making on the international regime for oil pollution damage, the use of environmental funds in this respect (IOPC Fund, SSOP Fund), the economic valuation of damage to the environment from a theoretical perspective and the application of the Contingent Valuation Method in Belgium for ecological damage at sea. Finally, an assessment is made of the economic value of user functions in the Belgian part of the North Sea and an existing mathematical model for estimating oil pollution damage at sea has been refined. Most contributions are updated to cover new developments in 2004. This important book will be of interest not only to scholars of environmental law and environmental economics, but also to policy makers and public administrations at international, regional and local levels that are concerned about accidental ecological damage at sea and the question of its compensation.