The ‘ecosystem services’ concept in environmental law

Abstract

The purpose of this study is to introduce the ‘ecosystem services’ concept from the legal perspective, which so far has not attracted as much attention in the Polish scientific community as analyses focused on natural and economic aspects. The concept is strongly promoted as a part of biodiversity and water protection measures which are issues of key importance for the agriculture. This means the agriculture sector will be the first to be affected by legal loopholes in this area. The analysis includes a general attempt to identify the legal grounds for the term and concept of ‘ecosystem services’ as well as the assessment of the current state of the Polish legislator’s works on this matter. At the same time, a confrontation of this concept’s theoretical grounds with the underpinning values of environmental law (especially with the ‘polluter pays’ principle) allows to detail the part of this concept (positive externalities of ecosystem services and PES) which currently poses a real challenge for the Polish legislator and requires a redefinition of current directions for specifying the environmental rights and obligations.