204
9 Environmental Ethics
they could be affected. The fourth step involves an assessment of risks and taking
action. The fifth step involves recording the findings, while the sixth step entails
reviewing the risk assessment (Hernando et al. 2006).
Environmental risk assessment (ERA) is important because it highlights the
environmental repercussions of decisions. By doing so, it shifts the focus from
only the merits of specific action to also identify the probable outcomes and
their desirability. The awareness of risk encourages accountability and collective
responsibility for risk management, thus increasing the likelihood of decisions that
minimize risk. It is also flexible and can be applied to complex analyses or situations
that require rapid responses. Notwithstanding, it is also associated with various
limitations.
Despite having the capacity to clarify risk to the environment, it cannot set an
acceptable risk threshold. The first limitation is that risk tolerance is a relative
phenomenon. Institutions and people have varying viewpoints, risk acceptance, and
tolerance. The second limitation is the challenge associated with isolating risks that
are associated with a decision. This is difficult because of the wide range of natural
variability in ecosystems. The third limitation is the wide tolerance to stress and
various recovery rates (Ahuja 2013).
To what extent can ERA be beneficial for enabling managers to communicate
the forecasted risks? At what point is ERA useful for businesses? What other
limitations do you know?
9.5 Environmental Risk Identification
In this section, land management will be used as a reference for explaining the
concept of environmental risk identification. It is crucial to identify the risks of
environmental damage that could arise from various actions and activities in order
to determine the ones that are significant enough to come up with solutions for
avoiding, minimizing, or mitigating them. For example, for fertilizer use, there
could be various approaches for the assessment of environmental risks. Many land
managers may use a simple way of assessing risks independently, but some could
require more formal risk assessment in case their industry organization needs this
(Cooper et al. 2005). In some situations, one needs a higher standard for proving
that they have scientifically assessed the risks. For example, regulatory authorities
may require a more detailed assessment in case activities geared towards protecting
nutrients in the soil do not align with the “allowed activity” category. For every land
management unit, one is expected to assess the inherent environmental risks related
to the major nutrient management activities.
9 Environmental Ethics
they could be affected. The fourth step involves an assessment of risks and taking
action. The fifth step involves recording the findings, while the sixth step entails
reviewing the risk assessment (Hernando et al. 2006).
Environmental risk assessment (ERA) is important because it highlights the
environmental repercussions of decisions. By doing so, it shifts the focus from
only the merits of specific action to also identify the probable outcomes and
their desirability. The awareness of risk encourages accountability and collective
responsibility for risk management, thus increasing the likelihood of decisions that
minimize risk. It is also flexible and can be applied to complex analyses or situations
that require rapid responses. Notwithstanding, it is also associated with various
limitations.
Despite having the capacity to clarify risk to the environment, it cannot set an
acceptable risk threshold. The first limitation is that risk tolerance is a relative
phenomenon. Institutions and people have varying viewpoints, risk acceptance, and
tolerance. The second limitation is the challenge associated with isolating risks that
are associated with a decision. This is difficult because of the wide range of natural
variability in ecosystems. The third limitation is the wide tolerance to stress and
various recovery rates (Ahuja 2013).
To what extent can ERA be beneficial for enabling managers to communicate
the forecasted risks? At what point is ERA useful for businesses? What other
limitations do you know?
9.5 Environmental Risk Identification
In this section, land management will be used as a reference for explaining the
concept of environmental risk identification. It is crucial to identify the risks of
environmental damage that could arise from various actions and activities in order
to determine the ones that are significant enough to come up with solutions for
avoiding, minimizing, or mitigating them. For example, for fertilizer use, there
could be various approaches for the assessment of environmental risks. Many land
managers may use a simple way of assessing risks independently, but some could
require more formal risk assessment in case their industry organization needs this
(Cooper et al. 2005). In some situations, one needs a higher standard for proving
that they have scientifically assessed the risks. For example, regulatory authorities
may require a more detailed assessment in case activities geared towards protecting
nutrients in the soil do not align with the “allowed activity” category. For every land
management unit, one is expected to assess the inherent environmental risks related
to the major nutrient management activities.