Post-Mortem Over Precautionary Principle: A Hazardous Policy

Implications of the Precautionary Principle in research and policy-making.

The Precautionary Principle (PP) has recently been formally introduced into national and international law. The key element is the justification for acting in the face of uncertainty. The PP is thereby a tool for avoiding possible future harm associated with suspected, but not conclusive, environmental risks. Under the PP, the burden of proof is shifted from demonstrating the presence of risk t...

What Price Safety? The Precautionary Principle and its Policy Implications

The European Commission is actively promoting the precautionary principle as a “key tenet” of Community policy as well as a general principle of international law. This paper explains why this promotional effort is likely to fail or to produce unanticipated and undesirable consequences. The principle has a legitimate but limited role to play in risk management, for example whenever there is an ...

The precautionary principle and environmental policy: science, uncertainty, and sustainability.

n matters of personal health, prevention and precaution are widely recognized " best practices. " Policymakers are eager to endorse suggestions that we exercise or eat more fiber, or avoid tobacco and alcohol. Policies governing the release of toxic chemicals into the environment have not reflected similar common sense and foresight. However , there are some positive signs that this is changing...

Implementing the precautionary principle.

The precautionary principle can be found in international treaties that protect human health and the environment from a variety of pollutants and perturbations. One of the earliest forms of the precautionary principle was used in the 1980s in Europe to protect the North Sea. In 1992, the Rio Declaration specifically included the precautionary principle in calling on nations to protect the envir...

Expanding the precautionary principle.