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Ledger 1 : 33 — For each dollar financing nature-based solutions in 2023, about $33 financed activities harmful to nature. (UNEP)
Cases / Oil spill · Spain · 2002–2022

Prestige oil spill compensation cap in Spain and 1992 Fund limits

Short record: the main facts, with sources. A full case file has not been prepared.

Nature's voice · report
No measurement of the harm done to me here is on record.
Did nature suffer? Not measured.
Not on record
  • The record does not name which of my species, waters, soils or forests were harmed.
What the record lacks: 3 none on record · 2 insufficient · 1 not measured · 1 unclear See the gaps

The 2002 Prestige spill off Galicia, Spain, falls under capped international compensation rules. IOPC Funds reports that the Spanish Supreme Court awarded €1,439.08 million, of which €554.10 million for environmental and moral damages could not be recovered from the 1992 Fund.

What?
The Spanish Supreme Court awarded €1,439.08 million for the 2002 Prestige spill, and IOPC Funds reports that part of it cannot be paid from the 1992 Fund. IOPC Funds
Where?
Galicia, north-west Spain
When?
Spill in 2002; IOPC Funds reports in October 2019 and November 2022. IOPC Funds
Who?
Gained
None on record
Lost
  • Claimants — €554.10 million of environmental and moral damages not recoverable from the 1992 Fund IOPC Funds
  • Owner's insurer — Paid €22.8 million under its liability cover IOPC Funds
Harmed
None on record
Why?
Not stated in the sources reviewed.
How?
Compensation is capped under international conventions: an insurer layer, then the 1992 Fund, and environmental claims limited to reasonable reinstatement costs. IOPC Funds
6 of 6 questions answered from the record

What happened

The record, in order.

IOPC Funds reports that the Spanish Supreme Court awarded €1,439.08 million for the Prestige spill: €884.98 million for pollution damage and €554.10 million for 'pure environmental and moral damages', which it says is not recoverable from the 1992 Fund.

The level of payments was 15.22%, made up of 12.65% from the 1992 Fund and 2.57% from the Civil Liability Convention (CLC).

On 15 November 2022 IOPC Funds said the insurer had paid €22.8 million and the 1992 Fund €147.9 million.

IOPC Funds says compensation for environmental impairment is limited to the costs of reasonable reinstatement measures, and that loss of enjoyment, claims based on theoretical models, punitive claims and 'loss of environmental services' are not admissible.

    In court and with insurers

    Every proceeding and every insurer decision on record.

    Lawsuits and rulings

    1. Outcome not on record
      London Steam-Ship Owners' Mutual Insurance Association v Spain
      Court of Appeal (England and Wales) · Civil · London Steam-Ship Owners' Mutual Insurance Association → Spain

      Court of Appeal judgment [2024] EWCA Civ 1536 in the Prestige dispute between the insurer and Spain. The outcome is not stated in the sources reviewed. The National Archives (Case Law)

    Insurers

    No insurer decision on record.

    What we don't know

    Undisclosed, unproven, untried: recorded as data.

    Nature

    • Not measured Harm to nature: The record holds no measurement of harm to nature.

    Court

    • Unclear London Steam-Ship Owners' Mutual Insurance Association v Spain: outcome not on record.

    Record

    • Insufficient Reported but not verified: the Prestige liability limit of 135 million SDR, about €171.5 million.
    • Insufficient Reported but not verified: the 1992 Fund limit of 203 million SDR.
    • None on record The sources reviewed do not give the total of established claims for the Prestige.
    • None on record Reported, source not identified: the owner lost its right to limit liability and the master was convicted of a crime against the environment.
    • None on record The sources reviewed do not say what the 2024 Court of Appeal decision changed, if anything, in payments.

    Did the harm stop?

    Not stated in the sources reviewed.

    Who paid?

    Not stated in the sources reviewed.

    Sources

    Voices on record: — Company or project— Government and regulators✓ Courts✓ Press and investigations— Communities and civil society— Researchers

    Courts

    1. [2024] EWCA Civ 1536
      The National Archives (Case Law) · 2024

    Press and investigations

    2. Prestige (IOPC/OCT19/3/2)
      IOPC Funds · 2019-10

    Connected cases

    Related matters, and cases linked to this one through the same organisations, with the role each played in both.
    • Prestige Spain · 2002–2026 Related matter
      Terms used on this page

      Insurance

      IOPC Funds
      The International Oil Pollution Compensation Funds: intergovernmental funds, financed by companies that receive oil by sea, that pay for tanker oil-spill damage above the shipowner's liability limit.
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