The Precautionary Principle In Practice

The precautionary principle puts forward the 'commonsense' notion that decision-makers should be cautious when assessing potential health or environmental harms in the absence of the full scientific facts. It is now a well-established tenet of environmental law. The debate has turned to its legal implementation, especially its application 'in practice'. The Precautionary Principle in Practice - Environmental decision-making and scientific uncertainty focuses on these issues. It considers how decision-makers can assess threats to health or the environment when the available scientific evidence is sparse and discusses the types of 'uncertainties' that bring the precautionary principle into play.Peel uses detailed case studies which examine the implementation of the precautionary principle in actual decision-making scenarios: fisheries management; risk assessment for genetically modified organisms; and environmental impact assessment for development applications. She demonstrates an approach that takes account of variable uncertainty issues and can be adapted to different circumstances to ensure a comprehensive assessment of the potential threats to health or the environment. Jackie Peel has a background in both science and law. She took a BSC/LLB with 1st class honours at the University of Queensland and holds an LLM from New York University where she studied in 1999-2000 as a Fulbright Scholar. She is now is a Senior Lecturer in the Faculty of Law, University of Melbourne.

This challenging book takes a broad and thought-provoking look at the precautionary principle and its implementation, or potential implementation, in a number of fields. In particular, the essays within the book explore the challenges faced by public decision-making processes when applying the precautionary principle, including its role in risk management and risk assessment. Frameworks for improved decision making are considered, followed by a detailed analysis of prospective applications of the precautionary principle in a number of emerging fields including: nanotechnology, climate change.

Great uncertainty typically surrounds decisions and management actions in the conservation of biodiversity and natural resource management, and yet there are risks of serious and irreversible harm for both biodiversity and the humans that rely on it. The precautionary principle arguably underlies all international conservation efforts and promotes acting to avoid serious or irreversible environmental harm, despite lack of scientific certainty as to the likelihood, magnitude or cause of harm. This book is the first to examine the application of the precautionary principle to biodiversity conservation and natural resource management, incorporating perspectives from scientists, economists, lawyers and practitioners from both developing and developed countries. It analyses the application and impacts of the principle in many areas including forestry, invasive alien species, wildlife trade, protected areas and fisheries, in a range of national and international contexts. Particular attention is drawn to issues of equity, livelihoods, science and politics, and the book provides guidelines for applying the precautionary principle to biodiversity conservation and natural resource management.

Viewed from the perspective of environmental management, this study describes the implications and applications of the precautionary principle - a theory of avoiding risk even when its likelihood seems remote. This principle has been employed in the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change and the North Atlantic Convention, yet it is not widely understood. This study examines the history and context of the principle, and its applications to law, governmental policies, business and investment, scientific research and international relations.

This overview of the role played by the precautionary principle in international trade law, European law and national law compares how precautionary considerations have been applied in the fields of pesticide regulation and the regulation of base stations for mobile telephones in Sweden, the UK and the US. A number of problems in the current application of the precautionary principle are identified and discussed. For example, it is shown that a firm reliance on a wide and open-ended precautionary principle may lead to problems with the consistency, foreseeability, effectiveness and efficiency of measures intended to reduce environmental or health risks. It is suggested that the precautionary principle indeed may be an important tool, but that in order to be acceptable it must be coupled with strong requirements on the performance of risk assessments, cost/benefit analyses and risk trade-off analyses.

Papers presented at the meetings facilitated by the Sanders Institute at the Faculty of Law of the Erasmus University Rotterdam and the Law School of the University of Hull.

The precautionary principle, or precautionary approach, is now widely accepted in environmental law and policy at international and, increasingly, national level. However, the principle remains highly controversial, its meaning contested, its acceptance and implementation inconsistent across sectors and contexts and its impacts unclear. This paper aims to inform and assist IUCN and its members in developing greater shared understanding of the meaning and implementation of the principle in the context of biodiversity conservation and natural resource management, respecting priorities of both conservation and sustainable development. It examines the meaning of the precautionary principle and its incorporation into biodiversity and resource management law and policy, and discusses a series of issues raised by its implementation in this sector for biodiversity conservation and for livelihoods and poverty alleviation.

The controversial question of whether or not at present the precautionary principle is to be considered a norm of customary international law is the key theme of this work, which treats the issue as part of a broader discussion of the principle's legal status on the international plane. This discussion, In turn, Is put in perspective by an account of the short but remarkable history of the principle in international environmental law and policy. The greater part of this study consists of the mapping and analysis of state practice in respect of the precautionary principle. Pertinent treaties, declarations, decisions of international organizations and domestic instruments pass in review. The book then applies the generally accepted principles governing the formation of customary international law to this body of state practice. This manuscript was awarded the François Prize 2001 by the Netherlands Society of International Law / Netherlands Branch of the ILA. `[The precautionary principle] has been cited in an increasing number of legal proceedings, including those in the International Court of Justice, The International Tribunal For The Law of the Sea And The WTO Appellate Body, As well as in the courts of a large number of states, including the supreme courts of India and Canada.' (from the Preface by the Series Editors)