Implementing General Environmental Duties: Challenges and Opportunities

Abstract

A general environmental duty is being implemented in Victoria as part of an overhaul of the jurisdiction’s environmental protection regime. This is part of a growing international trend to replace or supplement prescriptive regulatory regimes with more general, principle-based standards. However, implementing a general environmental duty poses numerous challenges to regulators responsible for its implementation. This study systematically reviews the growing literature on general duties and their implementation to identify these challenges. Through a thematic synthesis of the published literature, we identify nine challenges relevant to the implementation of a general environmental duty. The article concludes by identifying four opportunities for regulators to address these challenges.

Keywords: general duty, general environmental duty, systematic review, regulation, implementation

JEL Classification: K32, K42, Q53, Q58