Part V Key Concepts, Ch.25 Precaution
Jonathan B. Wiener
From: The Oxford Handbook of International Environmental Law
Edited By: Daniel Bodansky, Jutta Brunnée, Ellen Hey
- Subject(s):
- Precautionary principle
Precaution is a strategy for addressing risk. Risk of future harm is always uncertain. At its essence, precaution entails thinking ahead and taking anticipatory action to avoid uncertain future risks. Doing so necessitates the capacities to identify hazards and opportunities, to forecast scenarios and their associated outcomes, and to take anticipatory measures to manage causes before adverse outcomes occur. This idea is not new—success at risk assessment and management, including the astute exercise of precaution, has been central to the survival of the human...
