SEHN Statements
Every now and then someone puts an idea into such powerful words that it shifts our ways of thinking. Sometimes groups get together and hammer out statements that are meant to change the way people think about the world or a particular issue. Many such statements are quickly forgotten. But some have unusual durability and influence. Here is the Science and Environmental Health Network's collection of definitive statements on our range of issues. We - as individuals or as an organization - have had a hand in most of them. They express the ideas and values that guide our work and that we believe are widely shared. Use them and quote them freely.
Wingspread Statement on the Precautionary Principle, 1998
Vancouver Statement: Globalization and Industrialization of Agriculture, 1998
Missoula Statement: Conservation Decisions in the Face of Uncertainty, 2000
Blue Mountain Statement on Essential Values, 2000
Icicle Creek Statement on the Precautionary Principle and Ecosystems, 2001
Ecological Medicine Statement: A Call for Inquiry and Action, 2002
The Bemidji Statement On Seventh Generation Guardianship, July 6, 2006
The Wingspread Statement on the Precautionary Principle, January 1998
The release and use of toxic substances, the exploitation of resources, and physical alterations of the environment have had substantial unintended consequences affecting human health and the environment. Some of these concerns are high rates of learning deficiencies, asthma, cancer, birth defects and species extinctions; along with global climate change, stratospheric ozone depletion and worldwide contamination with toxic substances and nuclear materials.
We believe existing environmental regulations and other decisions, particularly those based on risk assessment, have failed to protect adequately human health and the environment - the larger system of which humans are but a part.
We believe there is compelling evidence that damage to humans and the worldwide environment is of such magnitude and seriousness that new principles for conducting human activities are necessary.
While we realize that human activities may involve hazards, people must proceed more carefully than has been the case in recent history. Corporations, government entities, organizations, communities, scientists and other individuals must adopt a precautionary approach to all human endeavors.
Therefore, it is necessary to implement the Precautionary Principle: When an activity raises threats of harm to human health or the environment, precautionary measures should be taken even if some cause and effect relationships are not fully established scientifically.
In this context the proponent of an activity, rather than the public, should bear the burden of proof.
The process of applying the Precautionary Principle must be open, informed and democratic and must include potentially affected parties. It must also involve an examination of the full range of alternatives, including no action.
Participants
Dr. Nicholas Ashford
M.I.T.
Katherine Barrett
Univ. of British Columbia
Anita Bernstein
Chicago-Kent College of Law
Dr. Robert Costanza
Univ. of Maryland
Pat Costner
Greenpeace
Dr. Carl Cranor
Univ. of California, Riverside
Dr. Peter deFur
Virginia Commonwealth Univ.
Gordon Durnil
Attorney
Dr. Kenneth Geiser
Toxics Use Reduction Inst., Univ. of Mass., Lowell
Dr. Andrew Jordan
Centre for Social and Economic Research on the Global Environment, Univ. Of East Anglia
Andrew King
United Steelworkers of America, Canadian Office
Dr. Frederick Kirschenmann
Farmer
Stephen Lester
Center for Health, Environment and Justice
Sue Maret
Union Inst.
Dr. Michael M'Gonigle
Univ. of Victoria, British Columbia
Dr. Peter Montague
Environmental Research Foundation
Dr. John Peterson Myers
W. Alton Jones Foundation
Dr. Mary O'Brien
Environmental Consultant
Dr. David Ozonoff
Boston Univ.
Carolyn Raffensperger
Science and Environmental Health Network
Dr. Philip Regal
Univ. of Minnesota
Hon. Pamela Resor
Massachusetts House of Representatives
Florence Robinson
Louisiana Environmental Network
Dr. Ted Schettler
Physicians for Social Responsibility
Ted Smith
Silicon Valley Toxics Coalition
Dr. Klaus-Richard Sperling
Alfred-Wegener- Institut, Hamburg
Dr. Sandra Steingraber
Author
Diane Takvorian
Environmental Health Coalition
Joel Tickner
Univ. of Mass., Lowell
Dr. Konrad von Moltke
Dartmouth College
Dr. Bo Wahlstrom
KEMI (National Chemical Inspectorate), Sweden
Jackie Warledo
Indigenous Environmental Network