Environmental legislation varies widely across countries, and related terminology is often easily confused. We use the following key terms across our legal analyses to facilitate understanding across jurisdictions.

Base state: The reference condition of the environment prior to harm having occurred.

Biodiversity: Part of the environment/nature, it typically refers to the number of species present in a given place, but also considers diversity across scales (i.e., genetic diversity, populations and subpopulations of a species, and ecological communities of multiple species). Biodiversity includes not only animals, but all terrestrial and marine fauna, plants, fungi, and microorganisms.

Claimant:

Compensation: A type of remedy, usually understood as referring specifically to monetary payments to compensate for the harm caused.

Damage (see harm to nature)

Damage claim: see remedy / claim for remedies

Defendant: see also responsible party. A Party against whom a criminal or civil legal action is brought.

Environment: see nature

Environmental damage: see harm to nature.

Environmental liability: The legal responsibility that a party has for the harm they caused to nature. It is most frequently used in the context of pollution, but may be used to require responsibility for other drivers of environmental harm such as deforestation, illegal mining or illegal wildlife trade.

Fault-based liability: Harm caused by negligence or an intentional failure to act reasonably, or according to law or duty.

Harm to nature: The negative impacts to nature that result from the actions undertaken by a responsible party (e.g., person, company, organisation, etc.). Synonyms in some jurisdictions include “injury” and “damage”.

In dubio pro natura: Meaning, “if in doubt, in favour of nature”, the legal principle instructs courts, administrative agencies and other decision-makers to resolve cases in which there is doubt in a way most likely to favour the protection and conservation of the environment.

Interim loss: The harm suffered during the interim period from the first occurrence of the harm to its eventual restoration. During this interim period, the harmed ecosystem does not function normally and so does not provide its usual ecosystem goods and services.

Legal person: An organisation, corporation, or government entity that the law treats as having its own rights, duties, and powers just like a living human being (see also natural person).

Liability: The state of being held legally responsible for something. Liability provisions are rarely present in a single law, and may be found across constitutions, civil, administrative, criminal and sectoral laws.

Liability threshold: Legal standards that are often established in law to help determine whether harm in a case was serious enough to trigger a responsible party’s liability. In cases involving fault-based liability, if harm exceeds the threshold, then the party may be liable. These are also referred to as standards, baseline or limits.

Litigation: A process of taking legal action, typically involving claims of liability and claims for remedies.

Mandamus: A formal order found in common law jurisdictions that is issued by a superior court to command a lower court or official to perform a specified official act or duty.

Natural person: Living human being with legal rights

Nature: (also environment): Living and non-living components of the natural world, including biodiversity at genetic, species and ecosystem level; all the dynamic processes and features of geodiversity, and all their interactions, including human-nature interactions.

Party: A legal entity that can be represented in court, whether a person, company, government agency, or other organisation.

Party seeking Remedies (see also claimant): The party bringing legal action seeking remedies. Depending on jurisdiction this can include government agencies, individual citizens, community groups, and non-governmental organisations. Parties seeking remedies are referred to as plaintiffs in judicial/court processes.

Plaintiff: Party seeking remedies in judicial/court processes. Synonymous with “claimant” or “complaining party” in some jurisdictions.

Precautionary principle: The legal principle, first enshrined in Article 15 of the Rio Declaration, instructs that, where there are threats of serious or irreversible harm, lack of full scientific certainty shall not be used as a reason for postponing cost-effective measures to prevent environmental degradation.

Punitive sanctions: A sentence imposed to punish a responsible party for committing a criminal act, which typically includes a monetary fine or imprisonment. The monetary fine should not be confused with remedies that involve financial compensation, as the reasons for them are distinct. A judge may issue both punitive sanctions and financial compensation in the same case.

Remedy / Claim for remedies: Actions requested of the responsible party to help address the harm to nature they caused, with the aim to make the harmed/affected parties “whole” again. Depending on jurisdiction, remedies can be sought via different legal pathways and can include a range of actions, such as restoration, paying financial compensation, and public apologies. In some countries, claims within civil liability cases are called “damages” or “damage claims”.

Responsible Party: A party found legally liable for causing harm through a constitutional, criminal, administrative or civil law action.

Strategic litigation: The use of legal action to bring about not only a resolution in an individual case, but also to catalyse border systemic changes in society.

Strict liability: Liability for harm to nature caused regardless of a responsible party’s intent or negligence. This type of liability is most common in cases where the harm resulted from a set of dangerous actions identified in legislation.

Writ of Continuing Mandamus: A formal order issued by a superior court that allows courts continued oversight of an ordered action, compelling a public authority to perform a duty over a long period. Instead of closing the case, the court retains jurisdiction to monitor compliance, requiring periodic progress reports, potentially until those orders have been fully executed.