Geoscience Reference
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of scientists
that have formed where a group sharing a common perspective on the
causes and possible solutions to an environmental problem has come
together, and particularly in circumstances where policymakers confronted
with that problem are uncertain about its implications and the costs and
bene
They also refer to the in
uence of
'
epistemic communities
'
ts of international cooperation for its resolution.
11
Haas
study of the
role of scientists in the creation of the Mediterranean Action Plan provides
an example of the empowerment, through shared concerns over the degra-
dation of the Mediterranean, of a group of experts in a way which allowed
them to contribute to the development of state policies on tackling marine
pollution.
12
The work of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change
(IPCC) as a body that has formed a consensus on global climate change
science which creates a platform for action to address its causes provides a
more recent example of the in
'
uence that such a community can have
where a political will to address an environmental problem is present.
13
These examples of ecology having an in
uence on the formation of policy
and law have some basic parallels with the role that a scienti
cadvisory
body would need to play in generating information and providing advice to
support the ongoing management of anthropogenic impacts on ecosystems.
Programmes of research were initiated by law and with the purpose of
developing a suf
cient understanding of the proposed subject matter of
legislation for appropriate restrictions on harmful activities to be developed.
The provision for the review of controls under the Montreal Protocol also
bears some resemblance to an adaptive approach to regulation that allows
the revision of laws as new information becomes available (although
decision-making on what controls should be applied remains very much
thepreserveofthepartiestotheProtocol).
14
However, the need in each case
for the stimulus of an environmental crisis before politicians were willing to
involve ecologists in policy-making evidences an attitude of reluctance to
relinquish authority to external advisers which would certainly not sustain
support for a system that is intended to have a permanent role in advising on
the control of human activities to prevent ecological problems from arising.
Instead, if the relationship between ecology and law is to move on from
occasional congruence once environmental damage or the possibility of an
11
Brooks, Jones and Virginia,
'
Law and Ecology
'
, pp. 243
-
5.
12
P. M. Haas,
'
Do Regimes Matter? Epistemic Communities and Mediterranean Pollution
(1989) 43 International Organization, 377.
13
Brooks, Jones and Virginia,
Control
'
3.
14
United Nations: Protocol on Substances that Deplete the Ozone Layer, Article 6.
'
Law and Ecology
'
, pp. 252
-
