Question

What affect, if any, do you think the precautionary principle will have on technological innovation and economic growth? Why? (500 words)

Answer 1

You can start your answer by explaining the concept of precautionary principle. It is the phenomenon of knowing risks with certainity before undertaking any activity. In other words, when an activity has a potential to raise threats of harm to human life or environment, precautionary measures should be taken even if the cause and effect relationship is not established scientifically. This concept is very important in environment economics.

Now, to explain the effect of precautionary principle on technical innovation and economic growth, we need to take the help of examples. Some examples that can be used to highlight this concept are:

Building of new plants (where technical innovation takes place) results in economic growth. However, it has its own environmental costs which may lead to excessive pollution, land degradation etc. Hence, if the protective measures are taken and this investment is not undertaken, this might hamper economic growth.

In the same way, if we assess the environmental effects of all the new technical advancements, we will not be able to go ahead with most of them because of the excessive damages caused to the environment. Thus, if protective principle is used in every case, technical advancement will not be possible and this will hamper the economic growth.