Dr Kyriaki Noussia On Modern Threats to Environmental Sustainability in the Arctic

Dr Kyriaki Noussia contributed an article titled ‘On Modern Threats to Environmental Sustainability in the Arctic: The Cybersecurity Factor and the Provisions of Insurance Against Environmental and Cyber Risks in Oil and Gas Installations‘ to the European Energy and Environmental Law Review.

The article was written in the context of accelerating pace of the climate change in the Arctic, which results in new geographical areas with natural resources to emerge. Exproporiation of these resources must be done in a sustainable manner to provide adequate mitigating measures, in order to address potential environmental harm or pollution. Dr Noussia notes that all inherent risks arising from any enviromental threat to oil and gas installations must be addressed and environmental liability and cyber-risks insurance coverage need be in place due to a prospect of a new financial activity in the area. These elements are discussed in the paper and the author argues that there is a need for a specific wording and cover for specialized risks in relation to the operation of oil and gas installations in the Arctic and cyber-risk threats, taking into account potential environmental impacts and hazards. Dr Noussia argues that policy language is critical in relation to cybersecurity and evaluating cyber-related insurance claims. It is concluded that ‘sudden’ and ‘unexpected’ loss coverage in property casualty policies are not suitable to environmental pollution coverage which by definition and nature is usually gradually occurring.

 

Photo: Robson Machado