Notes on the precautionary principle
By Juan Guillermo Rivera Berrio
Biodiversity and biological resources
Dickson, 2005
12.000 years ago populated the earth about five million people today comes every two weeks the same number of people. Currently eighth species of birds, a quarter of all mammals and one third of amphibians are in danger of extinction, about 60% of ecosystem services supporting life on Earth are being degraded or used "unsustainably" (Barney Dickson in Biodiversity and the Precautionary Principle, 2005) . Try
conserve biodiversity and manage environmental resources is to deal with uncertainties and a high level of ignorance. The biological and ecological knowledge is limited: it is not known, for example, how many species exist today and how many have disappeared over the last 100 years.
The figures that start this text by themselves justify the precautionary principle. If we add the figures provided by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC, an acronym in English), not only justified, it also validates it.
What then is the precautionary principle?
The most popular version is the first 15 of the Rio Declaration on Environment and Development (1992):
To protect the environment, the precautionary approach shall be widely applied by States according to their capabilities. Where there are threats of serious or irreversible damage, lack of full scientific certainty should not be used as a reason for postponing cost effective measures of the costs to prevent environmental degradation.
said than done is a long way, but it IPCC scientists say. When you want to apply the principle, there is clearly enough to take precautionary measures. That's when the arguments of the proponents of activities "harmful" (again GM, for example) will be above the defenders of the Environment, which ultimately are regarded as weirdoes, belligerent, stones in the road development, and many more epithets. The same principle of precaution is made by its opponents in "the paralyzing principle", and they are right. Regular on certain risks and uncertainties brought about by the increase of others. Economist Robert Hahn and Cass Sunstein lawyer in an article published in The Wall Street Journal on November 1, 2004, said: " if regulators try to eliminate all risks can be carried forward largely, or even all the country's GDP ' . The precautionary principle set out initially by the Rio Declaration does not provide a practical guide to regulate and subsequent formulations have found strong criticisms made of the precautionary principle a matter of contemporary debate yet overcome. But the debate focuses on the principle per se (we saw that it is justified and validated), but in practice the principle in its regulations on regular ... uncertainty or ignorance is highly complex task.
Despite the controversy, the precautionary principle has spread rapidly and included in the environmental regulations of many countries and communities and European countries. It is now incorporated into a wide variety of fields in international law: climate change, biodiversity, wildlife trade, biosecurity, fisheries, food, transportation of radioactive waste, among others.
¿El TLC formula acciones de precaución?
Pero del dicho al hecho… A manera de ejemplo, el gobierno colombiano expide la Ley 740 de 2002 por medio de la cual se aprueba el “Protocolo de Cartagena (2000)” sobre Seguridad de la Biotecnología, acuerdo que rige la transferencia, manejo y uso de organismos vivos modificados por medio de la biotecnología moderna (transgénicos). En el artículo 8º de dicha Ley se expresa: “ El hecho de que no se tenga certeza científica lack of information and knowledge regarding the extent of the potential adverse effects of a living modified organism on the conservation and sustainable use of biological diversity in the Party of import, taking also into account risks to human health, shall not prevent to that Party to avoid or minimize such potential adverse effects from taking a decision, as appropriate, regarding the import of that living modified organism intended for direct use as food or feed or for processing "principle ... Caution is not clear in the recently passed NAFTA by the Colombian Congress itself. In paragraph 18.10 biodiversity of this treaty reads: " The Parties also recognize the importance of public participation and consultation, as stated in domestic legislation on matters relating to the conservation and sustainable use of biodiversity. The Parties may make publicly available information about programs and activities, including cooperation programs, which develop in relation to the conservation and sustainable use of biodiversity . " Words like "recognize and" may "say nothing about the import of GMOs into the country.
The European Union made a law in which the invocation of the precautionary principle presupposes that we have identified the potentially dangerous effects deriving from a phenomenon, product or process, and scientific evaluation can not determine the risk with sufficient certainty. The implementation of an action based on the precautionary principle, should begin with a scientific assessment of the risk, as complete as possible and, if feasible, identify the degree of scientific uncertainty. This legislation is an invitation to supporters and detractors the precautionary principle to consider more seriously the complex problem of risk. For example the case of GMOs, the law is strict on labeling of foodstuffs. The Royal English Decree 1334 of 1999 regulates the labeling, presentation and advertising of foodstuffs and consumer items of information: If the product has been irradiated, this should be "irradiated" or "treated by irradiation" alcoholic indicating if the volume is higher at 1.2% and foods with soy or maize obtained with techniques of genetic modification (only one allowed in the European Union), include on the label the legend "Produced from genetically modified ...."
That is one of the key elements of the precautionary principle, the communication to us ignorant of the increasingly growing risks in the contemporary world. Hopefully someday we can label all the risks.
Caution Prevention versus
C hen I say that the precautionary principle is justified and that his biggest obstacle is focused on the lack of a clear methodology for implementation, thus I do not deny that there is confusion in the concept precaution. There is confusion and it stems from the blurred distinction between risk and uncertainty in contemporary literature [1] . For example, Ulrich Beck speaks of a society of risk and proposed risk and uncertainties concerning this assertion is most evident in the following passage:
"In ignorance of the risks are not detectable, grow and thrive on the risks and threats, ignorance which is compounded by the extreme poverty, unequal distribution of wealth and risk, less wealth and more risks. These risks are global to the extent that know no borders, they are universalized through the air, wind, water and chain food, but poverty prevents their perception "(Beck, 1986, p. 50-51).
-called invisible risks are not risks are uncertainties. All real risk is in fact a perceived phenomenon, so it is socially constructed. But I recognize that there are opposing views that merit further discussion (perhaps in another corner), for example Rose (1998) defends the risk and uncertainty: Risk is a situation or event WHERE Something of human value (human Including Themselves) has-been WHERE put at stake and the outcome is Uncertain (Rosa, 1998, p. 28). The truth is that this dichotomy between risk and uncertainty more enriched debate on the concept of risk.
Invoking the precautionary principle is to make decisions under uncertainty, taking preventive measures is to make decisions under risk. The risk, complex concept, is associated with other factors such as the threat or danger and vulnerability. In decisions under risk is known hazards may occur and what effects may occur, decisions in this area are based on the probabilities of both threats and effects or impacts. Decision making under risk is not based on certainty but on probability. By contrast, in decisions under uncertainty is not known what threat exists or what effect may arise or both ... behold the invisible risks misnamed Beck.
Brian Wynne (1992) developed an alternative approach to conceptualizing the uncertainty about a system (ecological, business, cultural, economic, etc.), Which can be a good reference for conceptualizing care. Wynne proposed seven categories of uncertainty, including the risk is the least "uncertain"
- Category 1. Risk: the behavior of the system is known and the effects can be quantified probabilistically. It justifies taking preventive measures.
- Category 2. Uncertainty: The important system parameters are known but not the distribution of probabilities (the probabilities are unknown), "we do not know." Be justified by the precautionary principle.
- Category 3. Ignorance: Ignorance about the system and the probabilities of occurrence of something, "we know we do not know." The effect of chlorofluorocarbons in the ozone layer is one example. There is no justification for taking or not taking any decision.
- Category 4. Uncertainty: The system conditions and causal chains are open (anything can happen), the results depend on how actors behave in a process system to be determined. Any decision will indeterminate results.
- Category 5. Complexity: Emergence open multiple processes, nonlinear and irreducible. Climate change is one of them, demand more detailed studies for decision making.
- Category 6. Inconsistency: Divergence in the observations and interpretations of the system. Agreement or consensus is required for decision-making.
- Category 7. Ambiguity confusing interpretations of the system and, therefore, key elements of the process. Can not make decisions.
According to these categories, only low-risk or uncertainty is justifiable decision, unless the category of "uncertainty" it is prudent precautionary principle. The truth is that under conditions of risk and a level of uncertainty is the result of chance, there is knowledge enough for prevention. You can make decisions in risky conditions conducive to prevention activities, such actions on the threat (when possible) and each of the elements that create vulnerability. What are the actions under uncertainty? Is the question formulated in the context of the principle precaution, no easy answer.
results are uncertain what the greenhouse effect, are uncertain economic and ecological effects of global warming are uncertain, the cultural effects of globalization processes are uncertain side effects of genetic engineering. Postmodern society grows and develops between risks and uncertainties, risks can be assessed and managed, uncertainty can only lead to insight into the phenomena that generate it, behold the importance of the precautionary principle.
"The Recognition of real natural systems as complex and dynamic entails moving to a science based on unpredictability, incomplete control, and Legitimate plural perspectives. "
[Funtowicz S. & J. Ravetz in RE Kasperson JX & Kasperson, 2001]
Beck, U. (1998). Risk Society: Towards a New Modernity. Barcelona: Polity Press
Elster, J. (1990). Technological change: research on rationality and social transformation. Barcelona: Gedisa.
Funtowicz SO & Ravetz J. (2001). Global Risk, Uncertainty and ignorance, in JX Kasperson & Kasperson RE (eds.), Global Environmental Risk, The United Nations University Press
Linkov, I., & Burmistrov, D. (2005). Sources of Uncertainty in model predictions: Lessons Learned from the IAEA and Fruit Forest Working Group model intercomparisons. Journal of Environmental Radioactivity, 84, 297-314.
López Cerezo, JA, & Lujan, JL (2000). Risk science and policy. Madrid: Alianza Editorial.
Rosa, EA: 1998, 'Metatheoretical Foundations for Post-Normal Risk', Journal of Risk Research 1: 15-44
Wynne, B.: 1992, 'Uncertainty and Environmental Learning: Reconceiving science and policy in the preventive paradigm ', Global Environmental Change 2: 11 -27
[1] In Elster (1990) is a description of uncertainty. When there is uncertainty according to Elster, the agent or combination of agents may not assign numerical probabilities to the occurrence of an event can not specify the complete set of possible states of the world, and not even able to account for the likelihood that they have to be in the future. Make decisions under uncertainty, is to make decisions out of ignorance. There is a vast literature on decisions under risk, ambiguity and uncertainty, which is present discussion in front of the distinction between risk and uncertainty, see, among others Ahmed & Skogh (2006) and scenario simulation models under uncertainty Linkov & Burmistov (2005).
