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arise over the effects that action or inaction may have on the environ-
ment. In contrast, the model that I propose would require that proactive
precautionary action be taken at all times to reduce risks that ecological
problems will arise, and that governmental action should be directed
towards advancing that end.
3.3 A legal framework for ecologically
oriented policy-making
A normative conception of precaution would provide guidance as to
how we should respond to unpredictable but potentially catastrophic
threats of ecological harm. However, institutional structures that actively
promote the reduction of risk are required if this guidance is to be given
practical effect. The primary objective of these structures should be to
reduce the stresses that we place on ecosystems and which expose them
to, and threaten to force the occurrence of, changes in their states. This
is identi
ed by several commentators as a necessary response to risks of
ecological degradation, including those posed by climate change, in the
face of uncertainty over the causes, timing and consequences of ecosystem
failure.
46
In addition, they should institute a culture of decision-making
that aims, through strategic planning, to reduce the likelihood and, as far
as possible, the magnitude of unwelcome environmental surprises.
In this section, I set out proposals for a legal framework for policy-
making that seeks, through adopting a precautionary approach, to enhance
ecological and societal resilience. It does this by requiring that, in the
formation of policy, preference should be given to ways of meeting objec-
tives that, cumulatively, place least stress on ecosystems. In addition, it
requires that options which present too great a threat to ecosystem health
should be discontinued and plans developed for their replacement. The
46
M. Nilsson and A. Persson,
Can Earth System Interactions be Governed? Governance
Functions for Linking Climate Change Mitigation with Land Use, Freshwater, and
Biodiversity Protection
'
'
(2012) 75 Ecological Economics, 66; F. S. Chapin III et al.,
'
A
Framework for Understanding Change
nas
(eds) Principles of Ecosystem Stewardship: Resilience-based Natural Resource
Management in a Changing World (New York: Springer, 2009), pp. 18
'
in F. S. Chapin III, C. Folke and G. P. Ko
-
22; R. K. Craig,
'“
Stationarity is Dead
”-
Long Live Transformation: Five Principles for Climate Change
Adaptation Law
'
(2010) 34 Harvard Environmental Law Review,34
-
9. See also
Rockström et al.,
'
Planetary Boundaries
'
and G. Garver,
'
Introducing the rule of eco-
logical law
in L. Westra, C. L. Soskolne and D. W. Spady (eds) Human Health and
Ecological Integrity: Ethics, Law and Human Rights (Abingdon: Routledge, 2012),
pp. 322
'
-
5 in the context of maintaining a safe distance from planetary boundaries.
