Adjusting scientific practices to the precautionary principle

In most discussions of the Precautionary Principle, it is implicitly;assume d that we are at a point near risk neutrality, so that the principle aims a t moving away from risk neutrality in the direction of more risk-averse beh avior. In this paper it is argued that actual decision-making in environmen tal issues is often on the opposite, risk taking, side of risk neutrality. A minimal version of the Precautionary Principle consists in moving from su ch a position in the direction of risk neutrality. Some methods for achievi ng this are discussed, such as less consensus-seeking scientific procedures , requirements that scientific committees identify less probable but seriou s scenarios, interpretative presumptions, and supplementary statistical mea sures for type II errors.