Important Legal Definitions

An environmental jurisprudence rule holding that where there are threats of serious or irreversible environmental damage, lack of full scientific certainty shall not be used as a reason for postponing cost-effective measures to prevent ecological degradation; the burden of proof is on the project proponent.

A corporation plans an industrial plant next to a fragile coral reef, claiming no definitive proof shows effluents will bleach the reef; the court halts construction under the Precautionary Principle until the developer scientifically proves zero ecological harm.