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Environment & Climate vocabulary · Environmental Policy and Law

Polluter pays principle

Meaning in environment & climate, with examples

nounCommon term

In environment & climate, polluter pays principle means: The idea that whoever causes pollution should pay the costs of preventing it, cleaning it up and repairing the damage, instead of the public paying.

In Turkish: kirleten öder ilkesi

How it is used

A basic principle of environmental law in the EU, the OECD and many countries, including Türkiye. It is the logic behind pollution charges, carbon pricing and extended producer responsibility. Usually used with 'the' and sometimes written 'polluter-pays principle'.

Example sentences

  1. Under the polluter pays principle, the company had to cover the full cost of cleaning up the river.

  2. Carbon pricing applies the polluter pays principle to greenhouse gas emissions.

Common collocations

  • apply the polluter pays principle
  • under the polluter pays principle
  • polluter-pays approach
  • carbon pricingPolicies that put a price on greenhouse gas emissions, mainly through carbon taxes or emissions trading systems, so that polluters pay and cleaner options become more attractive.
  • extended producer responsibility (EPR)A policy approach that makes producers responsible, financially and sometimes physically, for collecting and recycling their products and packaging after use.
  • pollutionThe presence in air, water or soil of harmful substances, or of noise, light or heat, at levels that damage people's health, wildlife or the environment.
  • carbon taxA tax charged on fossil fuels or on greenhouse gas emissions, usually set as a fixed amount per tonne of CO2, to make polluting activities more expensive.

More terms: Environmental Policy and Law

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