Public and Private Rights to Natural Resources and Differences in their Protection?

Abstract

This chapter analyses different entitlements to natural resources and the extent to which state ownership implies a different or less intensive regulation than where such ownership is not the case. It will focus on the prime regulatory instruments used to transfer rights of utilization, and seeks to identify the differences as to the protection of those rights, if any. The topic will be illustrated by different civil law examples. The analysis will be limited to three groups of natural resources: (i) oil and gas; (ii) sand, stone and gravel; and (iii) wind and waves.

Revoking coal mining permits: an economic and legal analysis

“…The statutes and norms guiding fossil fuel permitting decisions are inherited, in most cases, from the heyday of carbon-intensive industrialism during the late 19th to mid 20th centuries, predating concerns about anthropogenic climate change (McHarg, Barton, Bradbrook, & Godden, 2010). Globally, most fossil fuel is situated on public lands owned or regulated by governments (Rønne, 2010). Private and state-owned enterprises seeking to commercially exploit these reserves must first obtain authorization in the form of leases, permits, or productionsharing agreements (McHarg et al, 2010;Weaver & Asmus, 2006).…”