Shell’s oil spill in the North Sea this week is the worst in a decade, but compensation for any environmental damage could be in short supply says Susie Wilks from ClientEarth

What is the difference between a sea bird dying because its feathers are coated in crude oil, and a sea bird starving to death because its food source has been destroyed by chemical dispersants used to break up an oil slick? To the bird, not a lot. To a conservation organisation or local authority trying to recover the costs of restoring ecosystems and animal populations, the difference could be everything.