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Scholars in philosophy, law, economics and other fields have widely debated how science, environmental precaution, and economic interests should be balanced in urgent contemporary problems, such as climate change. One controversial focus of these discussions is the precautionary principle, according to which scientific uncertainty should not be a reason for delay in the face of serious threats to the environment or health. While the precautionary principle has been very influential, no generally accepted definition of it exists and critics charge that it is incoherent or hopelessly vague. This book presents and defends an interpretation of the precautionary principle from the perspective of philosophy of science, looking particularly at how it connects to decisions, scientific procedures, and evidence. Through careful analysis of numerous case studies, it shows how this interpretation leads to important insights on scientific uncertainty, intergenerational justice, and the relationship between values and policy-relevant science.

Precautionary principle --- Environmental sciences --- Environmental risk assessment --- Risk assessment --- Precautionary approach --- Environmental law --- Philosophy --- E-books --- Environmental risk assessment. --- Philosophy. --- Science --- Precautionary principle. --- Normal science --- Philosophy of science

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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.

Police power. --- Precautionary principle. --- Risk. --- Economics --- Uncertainty --- Probabilities --- Profit --- Risk-return relationships --- Precautionary approach --- Environmental law --- Environmental risk assessment --- Administrative law --- Constitutional law --- Municipal corporations --- Political science --- Right of property --- Precautionary principle --- Law --- General and Others

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What is the relationship between fear, danger, and the law? Cass Sunstein attacks the increasingly influential Precautionary Principle - the idea that regulators should take steps to protect against potential harms, even if causal chains are uncertain and even if we do not know that harms are likely to come to fruition. Focusing on such problems as global warming, terrorism, DDT, and genetic engineering, Professor Sunstein argues that the Precautionary Principle is incoherent. Risks exist on all sides of social situations, and precautionary steps create dangers of their own. Diverse cultures focus on very different risks, often because social influences and peer pressures accentuate some fears and reduce others. Instead of adopting the Precautionary Principle, Professor Sunstein argues for three steps: a narrow Anti-Catastrophe Principle, designed for the most serious risks; close attention to costs and benefits; and an approach called 'libertarian paternalism', designed to respect freedom of choice while also moving people in directions that will make their lives go better. He also shows how free societies can protect liberty amidst fears about terrorism and national security. Laws of Fear represents a major statement from one of the most influential political and legal theorists writing today.

Risk perception. --- Fear --- Precautionary principle. --- Civil rights. --- Social aspects. --- Social Sciences --- Political Science --- Fear - Social aspects. --- Awareness, Risk --- Risk awareness --- Perception --- Basic rights --- Civil liberties --- Civil rights --- Constitutional rights --- Fundamental rights --- Rights, Civil --- Constitutional law --- Human rights --- Political persecution --- Precautionary approach --- Environmental law --- Environmental risk assessment --- Law and legislation --- Principe de précaution --- Perception du risque --- Peur --- DROITS CIVILS --- aspects sociaux

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By canvassing a range of international scientific disputes, including the EC-Biotech and EC-Hormones disputes in the WTO, the case concerning Pulp Mills and the Gabcíkovo-Nagymaros case in the International Court of Justice, and the Mox Plant and Land Reclamation cases dealt with under the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea, Caroline Foster examines how the precautionary principle can be accommodated within the rules about proof and evidence and advises on the boundary emerging between the roles of experts and tribunals. A new form of reassessment proceedings for use in exceptional cases is proposed. Breaking new ground, this book seeks to advance international adjudicatory practice by contextualising developments in the taking of expert evidence and analysing the justification of and potential techniques for a precautionary reversal of the burden of proof, as well as methods for dealing with important scientific discoveries subsequent to judgements and awards.

Environmental law, International. --- International courts. --- Evidence (Law) --- Precautionary principle. --- Precautionary approach --- Environmental law --- Environmental risk assessment --- Extrinsic evidence --- Parol evidence --- Trial evidence --- Actions and defenses --- Judicial process --- Trial practice --- Estoppel --- International tribunals --- Tribunals, International --- Courts --- Jurisdiction (International law) --- International environmental law --- International law --- Common heritage of mankind (International law) --- Law --- General and Others

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Contrary to what is still often believed, the climate and trade communities have a lot in common: a common problem (a global "public good"), common foes (vested interests using protection for slowing down climate change policies), and common friends (firms delivering goods, services, and equipment that are both cleaner and cheaper). They have thus many reasons to buttress each other. The climate community would enormously benefit from adopting the principle of "national treatment," which would legitimize and discipline the use of carbon border tax adjustment and the principle of "most-favored nation," which would ban carbon tariffs. The main effect of this would be to fuel a dual world economy of clean countries trading between themselves and dirty countries trading between themselves at a great cost for climate change. And the trade community would enormously benefit from a climate community capable of designing instruments that would support the adjustment efforts to be made by carbon-intensive firms much better than instruments such as antidumping or safeguards, which have proved to be ineffective and perverse. That said, implementing these principles will be difficult. The paper focuses on two key problems. First, the way carbon border taxes are defined has a huge impact on the joint outcome from climate change, trade, and development perspectives. Second, the multilateral climate change regime could easily become too complex to be manageable. Focusing on carbon-intensive sectors and building "clusters" of production processes considered as having "like carbon-intensity" are the two main ways for keeping the regime manageable. Developing them in a multilateral framework would make them more transparent and unbiased.

Aluminum --- Carbon --- Carbon emissions --- Carbon policies --- Carbon Policy and Trading --- Carbon tax --- Carbon taxes --- Chemicals --- Climate --- Climate change --- Climate Change Economics --- Climate Change Mitigation and Green House Gases --- Co2 --- Debt Markets --- Domestic carbon --- Emerging Markets --- Emission --- Emission cuts --- Environment --- Finance and Financial Sector Development --- Greenhouse --- Greenhouse gases --- Macroeconomics and Economic Growth --- Precautionary approach --- Private Sector Development --- Renewable energy --- Sulfur --- Sulfur dioxide --- Temperature