Introduction

Julian Rode, Marc Le Menestrel — 2010-07-08T14:28:26Z

The two volumes of Late Lessons from Early Warnings (EEA 2001, EEA 2010) - henceforth LL1& LL2 - provide evidence of prominent cases in which early warning signals about potential hazards from the use of commercial products or operations have been neglected over long periods of time, eventually with grave consequences for human health and the environment. The volumes focus primarily on lessons for improving decision making of regulatory agencies, yet it becomes clear that decisions to act with precaution – or the failure to do so – often involves business actors. Private companies have been main drivers of innovative activity over the last century, and notwithstanding the enormous benefits they have generated for society, they have also been at the forefront of developing potentially harmful product innovations or operations. In essence, LL1 & 2 show that business decisions also played a major role when things went wrong. So what are the lessons for business?

In this paper, we review the interdisciplinary academic literature with the aim to analyze and understand better the situation of companies that are confronted with early warnings. We identify potential impediments for business decision makers to act in a precautionary manner. Reviewing and analyzing the wide range of cases from LL1 and LL2 allows us to detect patterns, and to document them with specific examples.

There is no doubt that many business actors recognize their responsibility to strive for economic benefits in line with a wider regard for human welfare and with respect for the natural environment (cf., WBCSD, 2010). For them, the analysis should be useful for understanding the challenges and potential pitfalls of which they should be aware when dealing with early warnings. For policy makers as well as the general public, the analysis should help understand the context of business decisions and be better prepared for objectively judging the role of business involvement. This seems crucial for a critical, yet unbiased perspective that, for instance, can distinguish good intentions from a “window-dressing discourse”.

We conclude with a few “late” lessons for responsible business decision makers. More generally, we believe that for a sustainable development and economic activity in line with a precautionary approach, it is crucial that the different societal actors – in particular business and policy makers - engage in an open dialogue that refrains from blaming as well as from green-washing but strives for open and honest discourse.

Biodiversity and Ethical Business

Introduction