ABSTRACT
This chapter shows that applying the precautionary principle in its main interpretations has a varying effect on aspects of liability for climate change. Climate change liability has been deemed to be 'the best tool for addressing climate change in the foreseeable future'. Liability for the consequences of climate change is but one means of compensating for ongoing and predicted damage, along with other proposals that deserve separate analysis in future research such as the idea of an international compensation fund or obligatory or voluntary climate change insurance. In the field of environmental damage in particular, liability law is affected by uncertainty, and its effectiveness in compensation, reparation and prevention is inhibited. The precautionary principle is to be considered in a triangle of interacting principles of environmental law with operational interdependency, namely the precautionary principle, the prevention principle and the polluter pays principle.
