Compensation for Damage to Natural Resources versus Compensation for Environmental Damage (On the Example of Resolving the Dispute Between the Democratic Republic of Congo and Uganda)

Abstract

In a case brought against Uganda in 1999, the Democratic Republic of Congo (hereinafter — DRC) asked the International Court of Justice (hereinafter — ICJ, the Court) to order Uganda to pay it $11 billion in compensation for deaths, looting, damage to natural resources and general economic damage caused by Uganda's military occupation of DRC regions. After lengthy proceedings, the ICJ ruled in 2005 that Uganda had violated international law by occupying parts of the eastern DRC region and supporting other armed groups during the conflict. In doing so, the Court directed the parties to reach a negotiated amount of compensation. In May 2015, DRC asked the Court to reopen the proceedings to address the issue of reparations for the failure of negotiations with Uganda. In February 2022, the ICJ judges finally ordered Uganda to pay $325 million in five annual instalments of $65 million beginning in September 2022. The Court divided the compensation into different categories of damages, including an estimate of $60 million for natural resource damages, including the looting of gold, diamonds, timber, and other resources by Ugandan forces or the rebels they supported. The article critically analyses the Court's approach to determining the calculation of compensation purely for natural resource damage rather than for environmental damage for the destruction of flora and fauna, comparing it with other similar cases in international practice. The conclusion is made that the approach used by the Court does not contribute to the development of uniformity in the assessment of damage in the period of armed conflict and a recommendation is made to develop a document on the methodology of calculation of environmental damage in the period of armed conflicts within the framework of United Nations Environment Programme.