Principles of international environmental protection - Introduction to International Environmental Law - page 123

The precautionary principle is also used in the Framework Convention on
Climate Change as a guiding approach for the convention system.
Unfortunately, as yet there are hardly any signs of its practical application in
the operation of the climate regime. If there is one environmental problem
today that seems to be irreversible, it is climate change. Considering the risks
for all of mankind, the precautionary principle should be strictly applied. To
date, states have continued to evade their responsibilities and the levels of
greenhouse gases in the atmosphere continue to increase, despite the comple-
tion of the fi rst commitment period of the Kyoto Protocol at the end of 2012.
Considering increased scientifi c consensus about climate change, human
involvement in its aggravation, and its effects, we could question whether the
precautionary principle is still applicable to climate change at all. Instead,
where the negative impacts of activities are widely recognized and proven, the
principle of prevention should apply: states must take no action that know-
ingly harms other states.
A more moderate interpretation of the precautionary principle is that
decision-makers should at least be aware of the level and quality of scientifi c
uncertainty. The Espoo EIA Convention, for instance, expressly requires the
parties to establish national EIA procedures. These should obligate companies
to perform EIAs that explain in plain language what uncertainties might be
contained in the assessment. The essential way of implementing the preventive
and precautionary principles is the environmental impact assessment. It is
applied in almost all the states in the world.
The environmental impact assessment (EIA)
procedure
The EIA procedure obligates authorities to ensure that the environmental impact
of a project is assessed before the project is commenced (or before granting a
licence).
In many EIA systems, the company in charge of a project performs a com-
prehensive scientifi c study of the possible environmental impacts of the project.
Generally, the company is also required to assess the environmental impacts of
alternative options, and possible measures to prevent environmental impacts.
These scientifi c studies are performed under the watchful eye of the civic society
and the relevant authorities.
It is especially important that the people in the area affected by a project are
informed about their rights to infl uence which environmental impacts are to be
considered. They should also be able to comment as to how the environmental
impacts could be mitigated by the different alternative plans to realize the pro-
posed project.
Authorities should consider any comments from the local community as well
as the relevant authorities when making their licence decision, as well as, of
course, the results of the EIA study.