Where did it all start

The precautionary principle is not necessarily a 20th century construct.  The medical profession's dogma "First do no harm" and the saying "a stitch in time saves nine" both invoke the elements of the precautionary principle.


The World Charter for Nature (United Nations General Assembly Resolution 37/7, of 28 October 1982) was the first international endorsement of the precautionary principle, as Principle 11: "Activities which might have an impact on nature shall be controlled, and the best available technologies that minimize significant risks to nature or other adverse effects shall be used". By the late 1980's the principle was being incorporated into European environmental statements. (http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Precautionary_principle)

The United Nations Conference on Environment and Development, having met at Rio de Janeiro from 3 to 14 June 1992 issued the Rio Declaration on Environment and Development.  There were 27 Principles enunciated in the declaration, and Principle 15 was:

In order to protect the environment, the precautionary approach shall be widely applied by States according to their capabilities. Where there are threats of serious or irreversible damage, lack of full scientific certainty shall not be used as a reason for postponing cost-effective measures to prevent environmental degradation.

http://www.unep.org/Documents.multilingual/Default.asp?DocumentID=78&ArticleID=1163

The interesting thing that the principle morphed into an "approach" and the words "cost effective" were included.