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.

From fisheries to persistent organic pollutants to climate change itself, no other environmental principle in environmental law has produced as much controversy as the precautionary principle. Unlike a preventive approach in which action is taken provided that the threats to the environment are tangible, with a precautionary approach, authorities are prepared to tackle risks for which there is no definitive proof that the damage will materialize. The ramifications of this increasingly apparent approach are profound and cut across all areas of risk assessment and management, environmental law, policy and regulation in every major sector. However, to date little thought has been dedicated to the implementation of the precautionary principle in a wide array of environmental circumstances. This authoritative handbook addresses the legal aspects of how the precautionary principle is implemented in different sectors, and examines its successes, failures, strengths and weaknesses. Sectors and subjects covered include chemicals, GMOs, marine pollution, fisheries and nature conservation, and the book draws on cases in the EU, in the USA, and Nordic countries, where the use of precaution has been gathering momentum. Ultimately, the book provides an indispensable appraisal of the question - increasingly important in the era of human-induced climate change - of whether the precautionary principle is relevant, indeed essential, to avert major environmental and health risks, and how and when it can be used successfully. Published with MARIE CURIE ACTIONS

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 is widely seen as fundamental to successful policies for sustainability. It has been cited in international courts and trade disputes between the USA and the EU, and invoked in a growing range of political debates. Understanding what it can and cannot achieve is therefore crucial. This volume looks back over the last century to examine the role the principle played or could have played, in a range of major and avoidable public disasters. From detailed investigation of how each disaster unfolded, what the impacts were and what measures were adopted, the authors draw lessons and establish criteria that could help to minimise the health and environmental risks of future technological, economic and policy innovations. This is an informative resource for all those from lawyers and policy-makers, to researchers and students needing to understand or apply the principle.

In The International Seabed Authority and the Precautionary Principle, Aline L. Jaeckel offers an insightful analysis of the work of the International Seabed Authority and examines whether the Authority is implementing the precautionary principle in regulating and managing deep seabed minerals.

This study examines how the European Union has used the precautionary principle in legal decisions.

Presents recent breakthroughs in the theory, methods, and applications of safety and risk analysis for safety engineers, risk analysts, and policy makers Safety principles are paramount to addressing structured handling of safety concerns in all technological systems. This handbook captures and discusses the multitude of safety principles in a practical and applicable manner. It is organized by five overarching categories of safety principles: Safety Reserves; Information and Control; Demonstrability; Optimization; and Organizational Principles and Practices. With a focus on the structured treatment of a large number of safety principles relevant to all related fields, each chapter defines the principle in question and discusses its application as well as how it relates to other principles and terms. This treatment includes the history, the underlying theory, and the limitations and criticism of the principle. Several chapters also problematize and critically discuss the very concept of a safety principle. The book treats issues such as: What are safety principles and what roles do they have? What kinds of safety principles are there? When, if ever, should rules and principles be disobeyed? How do safety principles relate to the law; what is the status of principles in different domains? The book also features: • Insights from leading international experts on safety and reliability • Real-world applications and case studies including systems usability, verification and validation, human reliability, and safety barriers • Different taxonomies for how safety principles are categorized • Breakthroughs in safety and risk science that can significantly change, improve, and inform important practical decisions • A structured treatment of safety principles relevant to numerous disciplines and application areas in industry and other sectors of society • Comprehensive and practical coverage of the multitude of safety principles including maintenance optimization, substitution, safety automation, risk communication, precautionary approaches, non-quantitative safety analysis, safety culture, and many others The Handbook of Safety Principles is an ideal reference and resource for professionals engaged in risk and safety analysis and research. This book is also appropriate as a graduate and PhD-level textbook for courses in risk and safety analysis, reliability, safety engineering, and risk management offered within mathematics, operations research, and engineering departments. NIKLAS MÖLLER, PhD, is Associate Professor at the Royal Institute of Technology in Sweden. The author of approximately 20 international journal articles, Dr. Möller's research interests include the philosophy of risk, metaethics, philosophy of science, and epistemology. SVEN OVE HANSSON, PhD, is Professor of Philosophy at the Royal Institute of Technology. He has authored over 300 articles in international journals and is a member of the Royal Swedish Academy of Engineering Sciences. Dr. Hansson is also a Topical Editor for the Wiley Encyclopedia of Operations Research and Management Science. JAN-ERIK HOLMBERG, PhD, is Senior Consultant at Risk Pilot AB and Adjunct Professor of Probabilistic Riskand Safety Analysis at the Royal Institute of Technology. Dr. Holmberg received his PhD in Applied Mathematics from Helsinki University of Technology in 1997. CARL ROLLENHAGEN, PhD, is Adjunct Professor of Risk and Safety at the Royal Institute of Technology. Dr. Rollenhagen has performed extensive research in the field of human factors and MTO (Man, Technology, and Organization) with a specific emphasis on safety culture and climate, event investigation methods, and organizational safety assessment.

A hands-on guide to implementing the precautionary principle and avoiding harm through foresight and wise decisions.

The precautionary principle provides a justification to act where scientific uncertainty about the nature and extent of detected indications of harm would otherwise possibly impede regulatory interventions. The highly controversial and often misunderstood principle plays a central role in European risk regulation. The present volume should allow readers to gain an overview of all essential points linked with the role of the principle in the risk regulation framework of the European Union. Based on an outline of the precautionary principle’s main characteristics and its conception by the European Commission, common allegations brought against the principle are illuminated and critically assessed. The second part of the book is then devoted to the actual implementation of the principle in the EU – from early applications to ongoing disputes. Three case studies from the agrochemical, pharmaceutical and food packaging sector reflect current applications as well as the relevant institutional and procedural framework. Insights from the theoretical part and the case studies are melted in the final discussion section that also includes recommendations for EU risk regulators.

This text explores the state of affairs in 2003 regarding the implementation of the principle in the law of the sea in different areas: like, pollution of the marine environment, conservation and management of living marine resources and transboundary transports of radioactive and hazardous wastes.