Critics call it a tool to halt progress, while advocates consider it essential to avoid severe damage to public health and the environment. Our team explores the origins of the precautionary principle, its impact on environmental law, and how it shapes our efforts to respond to climate change, biodiversity loss, pollution, and global poverty.
When news reached authorities about the emergence of this new strain of coronavirus, there was not enough information about its impact. It would be fair to say it was difficult in January 2020 to imagine the global effects the virus would have. However, there was enough data available on similar viruses to inform the decisions that governments would have to take.
In some cases, governments took early precautionary measures, including travel restrictions, mandatory lockdowns, and quarantines, and saw fewer serious cases and deaths. Other governments did not exercise the same precautionary measures and their citizens have suffered the consequences of their inactions, facing illness, economic hardships, and death.
Those countries that did take effective early action did so without scientific certainty but decided to endure strict and costly measures— in many cases, having to restrict fundamental freedoms and rights of its citizens—to avoid possible horrific consequences. They exercised the precautionary principle.
Understanding the Precautionary Principle
Lawyers can be quite argumentative about the definition and use of a principle in law, but it is safe to say a principle is not a strict rule. It is a guide. A principle has the benefit of including theoretical explanations and fundamentals of law, which help lawmakers in making decisions. This means a principle, when included in a piece of legislation or a treaty, can direct how rules in that legislation or treaty should be applied.
UNFCCC
The Parties should take precautionary measures to anticipate, prevent, or minimize the causes of climate change and mitigate its adverse effects. Where there are threats of serious or irreversible damage, lack of full scientific certainty should not be used as a reason for postponing such measures…