Sven Ove Hansson, in Philosophy of Technology and Engineering Sciences, 2009 2.6 The precautionary principle
The strict application of the precautionary principle does not permit inclusion of “acceptable risk.” The precautionary principle is a highly ethical statement, which, when taken literally, provides a very conservative approach to risk and in its strict application may impede the development of solutions to health problems. Avoidance of harm as a basis for decision-making is somewhat different from the definition of “safe” used by the FDA, which includes the evaluation of alternatives and acceptable justifiable harm for certain populations. This precautionary principle has been introduced into the management of risk for the pharmaceutical industry, principally by the European Commission, to apply as a basic principle, and has been adopted by the European Medicines Agency (EMA). The precautionary principle is based on the longstanding ethical premise of medicine primo non nocere, which translates as “first do no harm” – it is better to not do something, or to do nothing, than to produce damage. Sills, in Haschek and Rousseaux's Handbook of Toxicologic Pathology (Third Edition), 2013 4.2 The Precautionary Principle This article will examine briefly the history of the principle, the range of interpretations presented in the literature, and the major criticisms that have been put forward. Nevertheless, numerous definitions and interpretations of the principle exist and there is little consensus about how the principle should be implemented.
The basic concept has tremendous popular and scientific appeal, and has been written into numerous subsequent national and international agreements, such as the Australian Intergovernmental Agreement on the Environment, the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change and the Biodiversity Convention.
It became enshrined as the fifteenth principle of the June 1992 Declaration of the Rio Conference on Environment and Development, which states that ‘here there are threats of serious or irreversible damage, lack of full scientific certainty shall not be used as a reason for postponing cost-effective measures to prevent environmental degradation’ (Jacobs 1995, p. 193) and grew in popularity in European policy circles during the 1980s. The concept of a ‘ precautionary principle’ arose in West Germany in the 1970s (O'Riordan and Jordan 1995, p. Golding, in International Encyclopedia of the Social & Behavioral Sciences, 2001 Before turning to examine these in greater detail, it is first useful to give a brief overview of the PP’s inception and early implementation.ĭ. As the following discussion should illustrate, the PP is not without practical and conceptual difficulties. At the same time, however, it has proved to be a source of considerable controversy and confusion. Its development is well documented in the abundant literature on the subject, and it is widely thought of as a hallmark of contemporary risk regulation. It is now one of the most influential principles in applied ethics and policy relating to environmental and health protection. As Cross explains, “he appeal of the principle makes it a candidate for consensus, among a public otherwise deeply divided about environmental policies” ( Cross, 1996: 851).įrom its origin in the environmental field, the use of the PP has spread to health protection, the non-environmental aspects of the regulation of new biotechnologies, and to applied ethics itself. The point is straightforward and, in its broadest sense, reflects the proverb ‘better safe than sorry’. Decisions may be taken before those consequences are fully understood. The fact that the consequences of a particular activity are difficult to predict ought not to deter decision-makers from taking steps to avoid, or at least reduce, the prospect of harm. Unlike early environmental policies that tended to develop reactively to point-source pollution, the PP places a premium on anticipatory approaches to threats whose implications have yet to materialize.Īt its heart lies the notion that protective measures may be adopted notwithstanding significant uncertainties surrounding the likelihood or magnitude of potential risks.
Originally a creature of environmental law and policy, it emerged in the 1970s from a growing recognition of the global, potentially irreversible and largely unknown effects of greenhouse gases and associated climate change. The precautionary principle (PP) is a decision-making tool to assist in dealing with highly uncertain risks. Stokes, in Encyclopedia of Applied Ethics (Second Edition), 2012 Background