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Hong Kong
The Polluter-pays Principle (PPP) was originally introduced by the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD).1 It is viewed as "a principle of international harmonisation of national environmental policy" and "a principle of allocation of costs between States in international law".2 Since its inclusion in the Rio Declaration on Environment and Development,3 the PPP has received broad recognition in international environmental law.4 Under the PPP, the polluter's responsibility has gradually been extended to cover the costs of pollution prevention and control, as well as other costs such as charges, taxes, clean-up costs and compensation.5 There has also been an expansion of the PPP's scope; it now functions in a way that contributes to preventing, reducing and remedying pollution damage.6
Hong Kong, as an observer in the OECD, has included the PPP in its environmental protection policy since the late 1980s, with the aim of becoming a greener and cleaner city. This paper surveys the laws and policies by which the PPP has been applied in Hong Kong and makes recommendations for its future application. In this process, it is necessary to first understand how the PPP was developed in the OECD.
The Polluter-pays Principle in OECD Documents
The PPP officially appeared for the first time in the "Recommendation on Guiding Principles Concerning International Economic Aspects of Environmental Policies", which was adopted by the OECD Council in 1972 (the 1972 OECD Recommendation).7 Under the subtitle "Cost allocation: the Polluter-Pays Principle", the 1972 OECD Recommendation discusses the PPP in four paragraphs. Under Paragraph A(a)(4), it reads:
The principle to be used for allocating costs of pollution prevention and control measures to encourage rational use of scarce environmental resources and to avoid distortions in international trade and investment is the so-called "Polluter-Pays Principle". This principle means that the polluter should bear the expenses of carrying out the above-mentioned measures decided by public authorities to ensure that the environment is in an acceptable state. In other words, the cost of these measures should be reflected in the cost of goods and services which cause pollution in production and/or consumption. Such measures should not be accompanied by subsidies that would create significant distortions in international trade and investment.
Obviously, this paragraph is intended to clarify 1) the meaning...