Precaution in Global Environmental Politics

Abstract

The article evaluates the application of the precautionary principle at the international level. It employsa comparative study of four cases in global environmental politics: ozone depletion, acid rain,deforestation and coral reef degradation. Contrary to widespread academic notions, the precautionaryprinciple is not widely applied in international environmental policy. The empirical record shows thatgovernments abstain from regulatory policy when they face uncertainty about key aspects of ecologicalproblems. The key question that the literature has ignored is: what kind of uncertainty? Indeed, statesdo take action when the extent of ecological problems is unknown. However, uncertainty about thetransboundary consequences of alleged problems prevents international policy. Existing scholarshiphas misappraised the status of PP in international law, by underspecifying when PP is applied and under what kind of scientific uncertainty.