Carbon Capture and Storage: Efficient Legal Policies For Risk Governance and Compensation by Michael G. Faure and Roy A. Partain Published by MIT Press, 2017, 360 pp., 19.75, hardback.

• Published date: 01 April 2020
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.1111/reel.12327
• Author: John Pearson
• Date: 01 April 2020

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     BOOK REVIEWS

Bearing in mind t he critiques ma de above, the read er will certai nly

gain relevant ins ights on many issues leading inter national fisheries

law forward in an e ra of changing oceans.1

Julia Nakamura

University of Strathc lyde, Centre for Environmenta l Law and

Governance

1 The reviewer w ishes to thank Ma rie-Cather ine Petersma nn for her valuab le comments

and inputs o n earlier draf ts of this collec tion’s review.

DOI: 10 .1111/reel .12327

CARBON CAPTUR E AND STORAGE: EFFICIENT

LEGAL POLICIES FOR RISK GOVERNANCE AND

COMPENSATION by Michael G. Faure and Roy A.

Partain

Published by MIT Press, 2017, 360 pp., 19.75, hardba ck.

The impact s of climate change have be en accepted as one of th e

most pressing g lobal challenges faced by societ y. In the face of this

challenge, various methods of reducing the emissions generated by

human activi ties have been proposed . Alongside reducing e missions,

there has also be en the consideratio n of methods of preventin g emis-

sions from enteri ng the atmosphe re and causing (or ex acerbating)

harmful effe cts on the planet as an interim s olution, whilst reduced

and zero emissions technologies are developed. The adoption of such

methods for preve nting emissions is, however, not wit hout other po-

tential risks. A s such, it is per tinent to discuss t he appropriate ness

of the existing f rameworks for at tributing li ability and awar ding

compensation t o these new metho ds. One such meth od is carbon

capture and st orage (CCS), the pro cess of injectin g carbon dioxid e

into deep geologi cal formations r ather than allowing it to enter the

atmosphere. In Carbon Capture an d Storage: Efficient Legal Polici es for

Risk Governance and Compensation, Faure and Partai n consider across

nine chapters th e liability reg imes which may be app lied to CCS at

present and cons truct recommendations f or a bespoke approach to

liability and compensation for the harms arising from this technology.

The book provid es an overview of the technolog y and its risks,

followed by an asses sment of the existing ap proaches to liabilit y and

compensation , before applyi ng these in the prov ision of compre-

hensive policy recommendations for the future, should this tech-

nology be use d to fight the problem of climate cha nge. Despite the

potential for the e arly chapters to offe r little other than t he collation

of establishe d knowledge, thi s is not the case in thi s work, which

instead provid es an acutely contex tualized assessment of the lega l

rules in relatio n to liability and c ompensation fo r harm caused by

this technology. Whilst speaking to a very particular audience, Faure

and Partai n do so in a manner so thorou gh as to position the book a s

essential read ing for anyone considering th e law surrounding CCS.

The first t wo chapters of the bo ok introduce the s cope of the

work in terms of the te chnology exp lored and the re levant legal

frameworks . Chapter 1 afford s the reader with a n introducti on to

the potential sig nificance of CCS w ithin effor ts to combat climate

change, and the ac ademic underpinning s of this position. The chap-

ter sets clear b oundaries for t he content (or goals) of the cha pters

that follow and in do ing so, places the book wi thin the wider context

of research in this a rea and commendably highlight s other areas of

legal interest i n relation to CCS that are not cover ed in the book.

Chapter 2 esta blishes the necessary co ntext for the discussions of

liability and co mpensation in rel ation to CCS by outlini ng the history an d

current metho ds of the technique, it s potential capac ity to contribute to

combating climat e change and the risks wh ich lie counter to its pro mise.

Of particular use to those considering the implications of technologies

that present similar short- and long-term risks alongside considerable

potential reward s, is the segregat ion of risks along v arious tempor al

lines. Whilst t he risks in this instance are d elineated in this way by the

very nature of th e potential immediate and di stant impacts of CC S, this

temporal divi sion is reflecte d in the discussion of CC S’s legal implic a-

tions through out the book in a consistent a nd effective manne r.

Chapter 3 moves on to con sider the exist ing civil liabilit y rules

in both Europe and t he United States and their appro priateness for

CCS. It begins by ou tlining the academic criti cism of the patchwork

of relevant provisi ons, and the call s for clarifica tion of the existi ng

rules and the reasoning behind them when applied to environmental

claims. In doing s o, the chapter emphasizes b oth the agreed need for

the book, but al so the common asp ects of reason ing behind thes e

calls for clarit y with regard to the legal fram ework of CCS. This es-

tablishes th e significance and me rit of the assessment of th e existing

framework covere d in the chapter, and the proposed p olicy reforms

built upon it and ex plored in later on es. What follows in t his chap-

ter is a detailed co ntextualized analysis of the a pplication of liability

rules to CCS base d on both theory and the pra ctical circumstances

of the technolog y. This is of particu lar importa nce to researche rs

and practit ioners interes ted in this techno logy, but also refle cts a

methodology which any researcher interested in related technolo-

gies would be remi ss not to consider.

Chapter 4 builds u pon the analysis of l egal rules unde rtaken in

Chapter 3, to consid er the policies t hat underpin an d inevitably in-

fluence the app lication of the legal fr amework. The chapter (and t he

book) is bold in it s considerati on of both facets of law a nd policy.

Whilst the two a re fundament ally inextri cable, to addre ss both ef-

fectively an d reach conclusions which refl ect both is a complex and

multilayered t ask. The author s, however, do so competently and in

a clearly str uctured mann er, which only serve s to add credence to

the overall concl usions of the work. Of part icular note in this regard

is the position (or in deed lack thereof) adopte d by the authors with