The precautionary principle puts forward the "commonsense" notion that decision-makers should be cautious when assessing potential health or environmental harms in the absence of the full scientific facts. It is now a well-established tenet of environmental law. The debate now centers on its legal implementation, especially its application "in practice."

The Precautionary Principle in Practice - Environmental decision-making and scientific uncertainty focuses on these issues. It considers how decision-makers can assess threats to health or the environment when the available scientific evidence is sparse and discusses the types of "uncertainties" that bring the precautionary principle into play.

Peel uses detailed case studies which examine the implementation of the precautionary principle in actual decision-making scenarios: fisheries management, risk assessment for genetically modified organisms, and environmental impact assessment for development applications. She demonstrates an approach that takes account of variable uncertainty issues and can be adapted to different circumstances to ensure a comprehensive assessment of the potential threats to health or the environment.

Table of Contents

Preface and Acknowledgments
Introduction

PART I: UNCERTAINTY IN THE DECISION-MAKING ENVIRONMENT
CHAPTER 1: Precautionary Decision-making in Context
CHAPTER 2: Understanding Scientific Uncertainty

PART II: ANITICIPATING THREATS OF DAMAGE
CHAPTER 3: Assessing Threats of Damage in Conditions of Uncertainty
CHAPTER 4: Taking a ‘Precautionary Approach’ in Fisheries Management
CHAPTER 5: Mobile Phone Towers and the Application of Precaution

PART III: IMPLEMENTING PRECAUTION IN DECISION-MAKING
CHAPTER 6: "Precautionary" Decision-making Processes
CHAPTER 7: Implementing Precaution in GMO Risk Regulation
CHAPTER 8: Caution and Precaution in EIA for Development
CHAPTER 9: An Approach for Practice - Precaution as Process

APPENDIX A: Australian Legislation including the Precautionary Principle
APPENDIX B: Treaties including the Precautionary Principle
APPENDIX C: Cases considering the Precautionary Principle

"An extremely useful book for practitioners and regulators within the environmental and health fields, and especially for those who work in a decision-making capacity. The book provides an excellent background to the precautionary principle, a thorough analysis of its role in policy and law and includes a variety of case studies demonstrating the implementation of the precautionary principle and the challenges associated with this."

-- Mandy Elliott, Dept of Sustainability & Environment, Victoria