The precautionary principle: A framework for sustainable business decision-making

Corporate Environmental Strategy

Volumn 5, Issue 4, 1998, Pages 75-82

  Tickner, Joel A ^a   Raffensperger, Carolyn ^a  

^a NONE

Author keywords

[No Author keywords available]

Indexed keywords

EID: 0040712605     PISSN: 10667938     EISSN: None     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: 10.1016/S1066-7938(00)80085-8     Document Type: Article

References (8)

1. Hart, Stuart. 1997. Beyond Greening: Strategies for a Sustainable World. Harvard Business Review. January-February.
2. Von Moltke, K. 1988. The Vorsorgeprinzip in West German Environmental Policy. In Royal Commission on Environmental Pollution, Twelfth Report: Best Practical Environmental Option. Cmnd 310. London: HMSQ.
3. Dethlefsen, V, et al. 1993. The Precautionary Principle: Towards Anticipatory Environmental Management. In Jackson, T., ed. Clean Production Strategies. New York: Lewis Publishers.
4. For example, the National Environmental Policy Act requires that any project receiving federal funding and which may pose serious harm to the environment undergo an environmental impact statement, demonstrating that there are no safer alternatives. The Clean Water Act established strict goals to "restore and maintain the chemical, physical, and biological integrity of the Nation's waters." The Occupational Safety and Health Act was designed to "assure so far as possible every working man and woman in the Nation safe and healthful working conditions." The Pollution Prevention Act of 1990 sets prevention as the highest priority in environmental programs in the country. During the 1980s, much of the early precautionary nature of environmental policy was eroded due to a government focus on economic development over environmental protection. A strong public backlash to these losses, coupled with industrial disasters in Chemobyl and Bhopal, led to a rejuvenation of environmental advocacy in the U.S. Responding to the public's strong pro-environment sentiment, the U.S. government signed the Rio Declaration at the United National Conference on Environment and Development in 1992.
5. O'Riordan, T. and A. Jordan. 1995. The Precautionary Principle in Contemporary Environmental Politics. Environmental Values 4:191-212.
6. President's Council on Sustainable Development. 1996. Sustainable America: A New Consensus.
7. Durnil, Gordon. 1995. The Making of a Conservative Envi-ronmentalist. Bloomington: Indiana Press.
8. Schmidheiny, Stephen. 1992. Changing Course: A Global Business Perspective on Development and the Environment. Cambridge: MIT Press.