Environmental Law and Social Justice - The Precautionary Principle

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[...] "Environment management is forced to pay attention to practical of the precautionary principle. Strength of such principle is to be wide and ever-expanding globally. Yet, the principle bears some weaknesses: Transposition in domestic law and policy as a general principle is unlikely to lead to neither to consistent decision-making nor concrete impact; Implementation of this principle requires specific tools and approaches, such as reversal of evidentiary burden (placed on proponents), monitoring of requirements, and search of a balanced and proportioned implementation (assessment of costs and benefits, incorporation of broader socio-economic and political context) Adaptive management in order to expressly tackle the uncertainty and dynamism of complex systems," See Cooney, R. [...]

[...] Critically evaluate this concept, and its inclusion in environmental law, by examining its strengths and weaknesses in relation to environmental management. From Rosie COONEY perspective, the core meaning of the notion of precautionary principle, principle being defined as a "flexible and context-specific guidance", can be split between two approaches: A relatively "weak" acceptation of the precautionary principle, lack of full scientific, "weak" acceptation since limited to serious or irreversible damage. "Certainty not to be used as a reason for postponing cost-effective measure to prevent environmental degradation in presence of threats of serious or irreversible damage" (see Principle 15 of the Rio Declaration on Environment and Development of 1992) relatively `strong' version of the precautionary principle, more typical in environment advocacy" where precautionary measures have to be taken when an activity raises threats of harm to human health or the environment, even if some cause-and-effect relationships are not fully established scientifically." (see Wingspread Statement on the precautionary principle, 1990). [...]

[...] Environmental Law and Social Justice - The Precautionary Principle Instructions Task: Precautionary principle Various principles that underpin environmental law. One of these is the Precautionary Principle. This has become a very important concept in environmental thinking, and has a direct bearing on the development of the green economy. It is therefore important to understand the concept, and its strengths and weaknesses. Please read the excellent review provided by Cooney (2004). Cooney, R. (2004). The Precautionary Principle in Biodiversity Conservation and Natural Resource Management: An issues paper for policymakers, researchers and practitioners. [...]