Sustainable development and ecological modernisationsafeguards on trials and imposing moratoriums on production, as has
occurred in Europe (Rosendal 2005 ;Lieberman and Gray 2006 )? The Carta-
gena Protocol on Biosafety, agreed in 2000, explicitly invokes the precaution-
ary principle by giving countries the right to refuse to accept the import
of GM agricultural products. The principle of intragenerational equity also
drives the precautionary principle when industrial countries accept the bur-
den of helping poorer countries prevent damage, such as climate change,
that might arise from their future economic development.
It is important to note two qualifications within the above UNCED defi-
nition. First, the qualification ‘according to their capabilities’ implies that
less developed countries might not have to apply the approach so rigor-
ously – this idea has informed the use of the precautionary principle in
the ozone and climate change treaties (see Chapter9). Secondly, it is not
clear what kind of cost–benefit analysis should determine whether mea-
sures are ‘cost-effective’. Are these internal or external costs? How should
future costs be discounted and, given the uncertainties involved, at what
stage of decision-making should they be applied? Not surprisingly, there is
plenty of disagreement about precisely what the precautionary principle
involves.^7 Astrong interpretation would effectively reverse the burden of
proof so that the responsibility is vested with the polluter (the factory that
wants to release toxic chemicals into the atmosphere or the water company
wishing to dump sewage in a river) to prove that an activity is safe before it
is allowed. Similarly, if damage has already occurred, the relevant industry
would have to prove it was not responsible: guilty until proven innocent!
The advantage of this tough approach should be that industries would be
less inclined to risk releasing a pollutant if the onus rested with them to
prove that they had not done so. A weaker version may simply encourage
policymakers to act cautiously in accordance with the old adage that ‘it is
better to be safe than sorry’, although it is less clear what this might mean
in practice.^8 It is significant that O’Riordan’s suggested rules for applying
theprecautionary principle (see Box8.6), no doubt influenced by difficul-
ties encountered by the British government in dealing with both BSE and
GMOs, are underpinned by strong democratic principles of openness and
participation.
Policy integration
The objective of sustainable development and the integrated nature of the
global environment/development challenges pose problems for institutions...
that were established on the basis of narrow preoccupations and compartmen-
talised concerns. (WCED 1987 :9)
The problems for the environment posed by the segmentation of the
policy process into distinct sectors such as industry, agriculture, trans-
port and energy were discussed in Chapter7.Individual ministries pursue