Environment

BeeCaution seminar on the role of the precautionary principle in chemicals regulation

chiara.mazzetti@ecologic.eu — Wed, 26 Jan 2022 18:16:56 +0000

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BeeCaution seminar on the role of the precautionary principle in chemicals regulation

On January 18th 2022, the precautionary principle in chemicals regulation was discussed in an online seminar with academics and stakeholders.

The seminar was organised by University of Bergen's BeeCaution project, which is a spin-off project of the H2020 RECIPES project. BeeCaution aims to build a Norwegian network of actionable knowledge for precaution by engaging a Nordic audience in RECIPES' discussions on precaution and innovation. The seminar gathered 47 participants with different backgrounds, including students, toxicologists, NGOs, legal scholars, and representatives from public scientific committees.

In the first half of the seminar, a presentation on the precautionary principle in the European chemicals regulation (REACH)’ was given by Christina Rudén, professor of toxicology and regulatory ecotoxicology at the University of Stockholm. Rudén criticised the lack of precaution in chemical regulations in the EU. She talked about what she termed the “Seven Sins” of the EU's chemical regulation, including: that most chemicals are insufficiently tested, that mixed exposures of chemicals are ignored, that there is a structural conflict of interest and lack of transparency in regulatory risk assessment of chemicals, and that the PP is very rarely used explicitly. Rudén also mentioned some possible improvements in the newly proposed Chemicals Strategy for Sustainability as a step in the right direction. This strategy indicates better management of endocrine disruptors and mixture risk and improved transparency. However it remains to be implemented, cross-cutting legislation is still missing, and the structural problems of conflict of interest remain unaddressed.

Prof. Ketil Hylland, toxicologist at the University of Oslo, was invited to comment on Rudén’s presentation. Hylland agreed on the need of a precautionary approach. He mentioned uncertainty around prenatal exposure to low doses of chemicals as an example. He further suggested that instead of focusing on calculating natures tolerance levels of chemicals in risk assessments, the main focus should start from the question whether the chemical is really needed (essential use). Regarding the PP, he found it strange that when looking up the PP in the EU, most of the focus is on the limitations of the principle.

After a short break, the seminar was open to comments from the audience. Topics discussed include:

The problem of ‘paralysis by analysis’
A better testing regime is needed, that is more science-based instead of volume based
The problems of regulatory silos
What counts as ‘essential use’ of chemicals should be discussed more
More interdisciplinary collaboration is needed, especially legal scholars and social scientists need to engage more in debates and research related to regulation of chemicals
The problematics of setting specific thresholds, and that the PP is applied retrospectively
There is a window of opportunity to engage with the implementation of the new chemical strategy
Other relevant cases mentioned: Norway’s GMO legislation and the EUs prolonged process of updating the so called "Bee Guidance" for pesticide assessments

A video of Rudén’s presentation will be made available at the webpage of UiB's BeeCaution project soon.

Organiser

University of Bergen

Contact

Prof. Jeroen van der Sluijs
Email: Jeroen.Sluijs@uib.no

Further Links

BeeCaution project

Themes

Endocrine disruptors, Environment, Governance, Health, Innovation, Precaution, Regulation, Science

Interesting for

Policy Makers, Regulatory Authorities & Agencies, Research & Academia, Industry & Business, Funding Sources & Finance, NGOs & Associations

RECIPES Event

Event Date

18 January 2022

Location

Bergen, Norway

Language

English

Precaution for Responsible Innovation: New Options to Move Forward

chiara.mazzetti@ecologic.eu — Thu, 20 Jan 2022 10:32:52 +0000

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Precaution for Responsible Innovation: New Options to Move Forward

RECIPES Dissemination Conference

On May 11, the RECIPES project has held its dissemination conference “Precaution for Responsible Innovation: New Options to Move Forward”.

At the conference, the RECIPES project presented and discussed some of the ideas on how to improve the use of the precautionary principle that were developed in consultation with several stakeholders at various points during the project period (the RECIPES guidance). The conference brought together around 90 participants from a range of different actor groups including several of those who had participated in one or more of the RECIPES workshops. The conference was carried out in hybrid format, so the participants joined it onsite or online.

Several of the speakers and panellists stressed that the topicality of the precautionary principle has increased in the past, e.g., due to the increasing transgression of planetary boundaries. They considered the principle to be even more important in the future. They appreciated that the RECIPES guidance reconfirms the importance of the precautionary principle and reinstates its innovative potential, especially by stressing its dual role as a legal principle and safeguard and as a policy principle and compass. They identified the RECIPES guidance as a timely document.

It was emphasised that the use of the precautionary principle requires political discussions at all levels (local, regional, national, EU, global). These would need to open up complex issues to the wider public, involve the knowledge and perspectives of a wide diversity of actors, and deal with (uncertain) risks as well as (uncertain) benefits, and address questions such as “(uncertain) risks and potentially serious harm for whom?” and “(uncertain) benefits for whom?” and “what are sustainable and public-interest-oriented pathways out of interlinked multiple crises such as climate change and loss of biodiversity?”.

It was highlighted that recent reports by IPBES, IPCC and UNEP, CBD and WHO on biodiversity, climate change and environment, agree that solutions for these wicked challenges of a systemic nature, characterized by uncertainty, complexity, and ambiguities, can only be achieved by systemic, multidimensional, cross-sectoral, interdisciplinary, transdisciplinary and participative approaches. The benefit of the precautionary principle would be that it enables solutions for (uncertain) risks in a systemic way that not simply shifts responsibility to the individual level.

For more information, you can find the programme of the conference HERE and the presentations held at the conference below. Moreover, you can find statements by some panellists below (the panellists were not asked to provide a written statement but some have made it available to the RECIPES team).

Welcome note by the coordinator: Guidance for the future use of the precautionary principle, Ellen Vos & Kristel de Smedt (University of Maastricht)
The RECIPES engagement approach: Reaching out to society and policy for developing the guidance - Aske Palsberg & Niels-Kristian Tjelle Holm (The Danish Board of Technology Foundation)
Discussion input no. 1 from the RECIPES guidance: The precautionary principle works best in a double role: safeguard and compass - Tijs Sikma (Rathenau Institute)
Discussion input no. 2 from the RECIPES guidance: The precautionary principle is a knowledge and participation issue - Jeroen van der Sluijs (University of Bergen) and Pia-Johanna Schweizer (Institute for Advanced Sustainability Studies)
Intervention by Christine von Weizsäcker
Intervention by Carolina Vigo

In the videos below Christine von Weizsächer and Nina Holland, RECIPES Advisory Board Members, offer their perspectives on the RECIPES project, during the final conference held in May 2022:

Organiser

Dialogik, DBT, IASS, UM, Ecologic Institute with support from KNAW, UiB, K&I and ARC

Contact

Dr. Marion Dreyer, Dialogik

Email: dreyer@dialogik-expert.de

Themes

Artificial Intelligence in healthcare, CRISPR-based gene drives, Endocrine disruptors, Environment, Financial risks and urban waste planning, Genetically Modified Organisms (GMO’s), Glyphosate, Health, Innovation, Microplastics, Nanotechnologies, Neonicotinoid insecticides, Precaution, Regulation, Safety, Science

Interesting for

Policy Makers, Regulatory Authorities & Agencies, Research & Academia, Industry & Business, Funding Sources & Finance, NGOs & Associations, Citizens & Civil Society Organisations

RECIPES Event

Event Date

11 May 2022

Location

Hybrid Format: Online & Brussels

Language

English

The pollinator crisis and the role of entomologists: editorial

chiara.mazzetti@ecologic.eu — Wed, 05 Jan 2022 09:15:07 +0000

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The pollinator crisis and the role of entomologists: editorial

Pollinator decline, and more broadly insect decline, has become a pressing societal challenge. Jeroen P. van der Sluijs, from the RECIPES Consortium, together with Stéphane Foucart and Jérôme Casas just published the editorial in the Insect Science journal: Halting the pollinator crisis requires entomologists to step up and assume their societal responsibilities.

The decline of bees and other pollinators continues at a high pace, and time for action is running out. Entomologists need to work with and for insects, in a much more complex settings but in a more positive and nurturing attitude. They need to step up to increase the policy relevance of their research, to help adequately diagnose the problem, and to help develop timely structural solutions and policy options. Breakthroughs such as the ban of an entire class of proven harmful pesticides implied in pollinator decline became only possible following deep engagement of scientists with all stakeholders and entomologists assuming their societal responsibilities. This needs to become the norm, not the exception.

Jeroen P. van der Sluijs is professor at the Centre for the Study of the Sciences and the Humanities at the University of Bergen, Norway. Within the RECIPES project, he conducted the case study on "Neonicotinoid insecticides", which outlines scientific uncertainties and ambiguities regarding the effects of neonics on pollinators.

A full overview of the RECIPES’s case studies can be found HERE.

Authors

Jeroen P. van der Sluijs (Email: jeroen.sluijs@uib.no)

Stéphane Foucart

Jérôme Casas

Published in

Insect Science journal

Themes

Environment, Neonicotinoid insecticides, Safety, Science

Interesting for

Policy Makers, Regulatory Authorities & Agencies, Research & Academia

Scientific Publication

Publishing Date

27 September 2021

Language

English

Insect decline, an emerging global environmental risk

chiara.mazzetti@ecologic.eu — Wed, 05 Jan 2022 09:12:24 +0000

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Insect decline, an emerging global environmental risk

Over the past decades, evidence has mounted that the Earth’s entomofauna is in an ongoing state of collapse. Globally, insects make up three quarters of animal and plant species. But these little things that run the world seem to have been widely overlooked in science, nature conservation and environmental policy-making and law-making.

Jeroen P. van der Sluijs, Professor in Theory of Science & Ethics of the Natural Sciences at the University of Bergen, has published the article “Insect decline, an emerging global environmental risk”, on the Environmental Sustainability journal.

An international treaty for global pollinator stewardship and pollinator ecosystem restoration is urgently needed to counteract the current crisis. Scientists made urgent calls to prioritise insect conservation. In 2018, the EU Pollinators Initiative started, but the European Court of Auditors found that the Commission approach to the protection of wild pollinators is inconsistent, policies are flawed, and the Pollinators Initiative does not have the tools and mechanisms to address those gaps. Are view of insect pollinator conservation policies in the US found that despite scientific calls and public outcry to develop policy that addresses declines, multi-state agreements have not delivered such legislation nor met basic monitoring needs recommended by experts.

Within the RECIPES project, Jeroen P. van der Sluijs and Laura Drivdal conducted the case study on "Neonicotinoid insecticides", which outlines scientific uncertainties and ambiguities regarding the effects of neonics on pollinators.

A full overview of the RECIPES’s case studies can be found HERE.

Authors

Jeroen P. van der Sluijs, University of Bergen (Email: jeroen.sluijs@uib.no)

Published in

Environmental Sustainability journal.

Themes

Environment, Neonicotinoid insecticides, Precaution, Regulation, Science

Interesting for

Policy Makers, Regulatory Authorities & Agencies, Research & Academia

Scientific Publication

Publishing Date

20 October 2021

Language

English

Pollinator conservation requires a stronger and broader application of the precautionary principle

chiara.mazzetti@ecologic.eu — Wed, 05 Jan 2022 09:10:37 +0000

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Pollinator conservation requires a stronger and broader application of the precautionary principle

Pollinator decline, and more broadly global insect decline, is increasingly recognised as an emerging global environmental risk urgently requiring an internationally coordinated and integrated policy response.

The paper “Pollinator conservation requires a stronger and broader application of the precautionary principle”, published on the Insect Science journal by Jeroen van der Sluijs and Lura Drivdal, from the University of Bergen, reviews the role of the Precautionary Principle (PP) in pollinator conservation.

The current research front is fragmented: the PP is briefly mentioned as relevant in literature on biodiversity conservation because of the scientific uncertainties regarding insect decline and their diverse drivers. A separate strand of literature contains studies on specific cases where the PP has played a role in the regulation of specific threats to pollinators: systemic insecticides and global trade in bees. Although limited to two significant threats to pollinator abundance and diversity, these studies provide important lessons on the challenges of implementing precautionary pollinator conservation policies and underline socio-political aspects of the ‘human-dimensions’ of pollinator conservation.

A full overview of the RECIPES’s case studies can be found HERE.

Authors

Laura Drivdal, University of Bergen (Email: Laura.Drivdal@uib.no)

Jeroen P. van der Sluijs, University of Bergen (Email: jeroen.sluijs@uib.no)

Published in

Insect Science journal

Themes

Environment, Health, Neonicotinoid insecticides, Precaution, Regulation, Safety, Science

Interesting for

Policy Makers, Regulatory Authorities & Agencies, Research & Academia

Scientific Publication

Publishing Date

21 April 2021

Language

English

Pollinator conservation requires a stronger and broader application of the precautionary principle

chiara.mazzetti@ecologic.eu — Thu, 04 Nov 2021 18:46:49 +0000

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Pollinator conservation requires a stronger and broader application of the precautionary principle

A full overview of the RECIPES’s case studies can be found HERE.

Contact

Jeroen P. van der Sluijs, University of Bergen

Email: jeroen.sluijs@uib.no

Themes

Environment, Health, Neonicotinoid insecticides, Precaution, Regulation, Safety, Science

Interesting for

Policy Makers, Regulatory Authorities & Agencies, Research & Academia

Date

21 April 2021

European Policy Workshop: “Precaution for responsible innovation”

chiara.mazzetti@ecologic.eu — Thu, 04 Nov 2021 18:26:38 +0000

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European Policy Workshop: “Precaution for responsible innovation”

On February 22 and 23, the RECIPES project will organize the European Policy Workshop: “Precaution for responsible innovation”.

The workshop aims to review the pre-final version of the RECIPES guidance on how to ensure the PP’s ability to drive responsible innovation. It will take place online and will address, as main target groups, EU policy makers, European agencies, EU policy support organizations and bodies and similar experts.

Participants will have the chance to discuss a pre-final version of the RECIPES guidance (Sent in advance to registered guests). A series of Break-out sessions taking place on both days will allow participants to discuss the guidance to further improve its clarity, plausibility, policy relevance and future-orientation, as well as to brainstorm on the exploitation of the document.

For more information, you can find the programme of the Workshop HERE.

The workshop will be moderated by the RECIPES partners.

Organiser

Dialogik, DBT, IASS with support from UM, KNAW, UiB, K&A and ARC

Contact

Frank Dratsdrummer, Doalogik

Email: dratsdrummer@dialogik-expert.de

Themes

Artificial Intelligence in healthcare, CRISPR-based gene drives, Endocrine disruptors, Environment, Financial risks and urban waste planning, Genetically Modified Organisms (GMO’s), Glyphosate, Governance, Health, Innovation, Microplastics, Nanotechnologies, Neonicotinoid insecticides, Precaution, Regulation, Safety, Science

Interesting for

Policy Makers, Regulatory Authorities & Agencies, Research & Academia

RECIPES Event

Event Date

22 February 2022 - 23 February 2022

Location

Online

Language

English

Insect decline, an emerging global environmental risk

chiara.mazzetti@ecologic.eu — Thu, 04 Nov 2021 15:48:04 +0000

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Insect decline, an emerging global environmental risk

A full overview of the RECIPES’s case studies can be found HERE.

Contact

Jeroen P. van der Sluijs, University of Bergen

Email: jeroen.sluijs@uib.no

Themes

Environment, Neonicotinoid insecticides, Precaution, Regulation, Science

Interesting for

Policy Makers, Regulatory Authorities & Agencies, Research & Academia

Date

20 October 2020

The pollinator crisis and the role of entomologists: editorial

chiara.mazzetti@ecologic.eu — Thu, 30 Sep 2021 13:51:05 +0000

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The pollinator crisis and the role of entomologists: editorial

A full overview of the RECIPES’s case studies can be found HERE.

Contact

Jeroen P. van der Sluijs, University of Bergen

Email: jeroen.sluijs@uib.no

Themes

Environment, Neonicotinoid insecticides, Safety, Science

Interesting for

Policy Makers, Regulatory Authorities & Agencies, Research & Academia

Date

30 September 2021

Guidance for future application of the precautionary principle

chiara.mazzetti@ecologic.eu — Mon, 06 Sep 2021 13:58:08 +0000

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Guidance for future application of the precautionary principle

As a last step of the project, the RECIPES team has developed a Guidance for application of the precautionary principle in the EU. The guidance advises on how to deal responsibly with uncertain risks in the development and implementation of technology in the EU. Target groups of this guidance are primarily EU policy makers, EU agencies, and EU policy support organisations and bodies that are concerned with risk regulation or the governance of science, technology and innovation.

The main documents are:

Guidance for application of the precautionary principle in the EU
The 3rd policy brief
The sector-specific briefs that illustrate the application of the guidance to chemicals and gene technology

Themes of the guidance

The guidance for future application of the precautionary principle covers the three meta-themes identified in the needs assessment:

Participation

Organisation and production of expertise

Extent of application

Development process

After having identified the needs of stakeholders for guidance to support the future application of the precautionary principle in a co-creative process, the RECIPES team developed guidance for the three meta-themes identified.

Stakeholder phase 1: Consultation workshops

During June 2021, the RECIPES team consulted twice with stakeholders: During the first consultation workshop, it gathered feedback on the first ideas developed for the three meta-themes. During the second consultation workshop, the RECIPES team asked stakeholders to perform a SWOT analysis for the first draft of the guidance.

Stakeholder phase 2: Multi-criteria assessment

During September 2021, the RECIPES team scrutinized an elaborated version of the guidance via a modified participatory multi-criteria assessment. The purpose was to ensure that the guidance will be of relevance and acceptable for different stakeholders. To this end, the RECIPES team facilitated an open-ended focus group discussion based on a range of criteria, including accessibility and concreteness. The RECIPES methodology developed for planning and implementation of the multi-criteria assessment is available HERE.

Stakeholder phase 3: Policy workshop

In February 2022, the RECIPES team discussed a pre-final version of the guidance at the European Policy Workshop: “Precaution for responsible innovation” with policy makers and policy advisors to further improve its clarity, plausibility and policy relevance.

Authors

Please refer to the individual reports for the list of authors.

ISBN/ISSN/DOI

N/A

Themes

Environment, Innovation, Precaution, Regulation, Safety, Science

Interesting for

Policy Makers, Regulatory Authorities & Agencies, Research & Academia, Industry & Business, Funding Sources & Finance, NGOs & Associations, Citizens & Civil Society Organisations

Guidelines & Recommendations

Policy Brief

Report

Publishing Date

20 July 2022

Language

English