ABSTRACT
This chapter addresses the issue of ecological limits by looking at the arguments for the precautionary principle and safe minimum standards as safeguards against the consequences of biodiversity loss. It examines the conditions under which these safeguards might apply and the inherent difficulties of translating them into practical policies. If the welfare of future generations can only be assured if the level of biodiversity they inherit is no less than that available to present generations, then the precautionary principle begins to approximate more closely the policy of invoking safe minimum standards. The precautionary principle and safe minimum standards approach to biodiversity conservation present a fundamental challenge to develop more innovative policies for respecting ecosystem limits and thresholds. The chapter discusses both the limits to exploitation of ecosystems and the limits to the use of economic policies, particularly traditional regulatory or market based instruments, in controlling environmental degradation and biodiversity loss that threaten ecological sustainability.
