Polluter pays principle

[5][6] The polluter pays principle underpins environmental policy such as an ecotax, which, if enacted by government, deters and essentially reduces greenhouse gas emissions.

[7] The Canadian Energy Regulator mandates that oil companies must pay for any environmental impacts from a spill.

[12] EPR seeks to shift the responsibility of dealing with waste from governments (and thus, taxpayers and society at large) to the entities producing it.

[13] Part IIA of the Environmental Protection Act 1990 established the operation of the polluter pays principle.

[19] The Zimbabwe Environmental Management Act of 2002 [20][full citation needed] prohibits the discharge of pollutants into the environment.

An example occurs in the history of climate change science which shows that considerable carbon dioxide was emitted into the atmosphere by industrialized countries before there was scientific awareness or consensus that it could be dangerous.