Risk

In recent years, risk has become a topic of intellectual, political, and social interest. Rarely does a day pass without some coverage of risk issues by the mass media (e.g., Avian flu, mad cow disease, SARS, terrorism). By their very nature these issues are complex and contentious and spawn questions on how risks should be managed or governed. Because risks are ubiquitous, risk governance can be defined as a series of processes for minimizing the probability of exposure to a hazard and the degree of adverse outcomes flowing from such exposure. Within the context of environmental and human health risks, such governance considerations focus on the interface of science and policy, and ultimately involve specifying the design of this interface so as to increase accountability, transparency, strategic vision, participation, and equity. These principles of good governance are essential when dealing with risk issues because risks are intertwined with problems of governance.

Throughout history, risks have presented a challenge to human survival while simultaneously presenting opportunities. A changing environment, the threat of epidemics and pandemics, famine, and humanmade threats such as war have invariably presented risks to both individual and collective survival. The formulation of risk-based policy is an intricate process that reveals the influence of multiple actors, abiding societal conditions, conceptual paradigms that predominate in the minds of the public and elites alike, estimates of the resources available, and the perceived costs and benefits of suggested courses of action.

Risk is often defined as the probability of adverse outcomes multiplied by consequences. Technically, the word “risk” refers to situations in which a decision is made whose consequences depend on the outcome of future events having known probabilities. For example, the decision to build or relicense a civilian nuclear power plant involves comparing the risks and benefits associated with this energy source to other sources (e.g., coal, hydroelectric, natural gas, wind) by assessing the veracity of certain assumptions about future impacts on human health, environment, energy [Page 839]security, and so forth. As such, risk is not simply equivalent to hazard, but rather, the possible damage that may result from one's decisions or indecisions. In short, the type, magnitude, and distribution of risks borne by industrialized societies are determined by regulations and the effectiveness of their implementation and enforcement.

In seeking to overcome or manage such risks, democratic societies are obliged to preserve certain fundamental values, such as a citizen's right to comprehend and to take part in governmental decision making. Since risk evaluation is essentially a social process, and all risk assessments are value laden, risks must be managed with recognition that a sciencealone approach is incomplete because it ignores many of the ethical and social issues that accompany new technologies. Developments in stem cell technology, human cloning, and xenotransplantation demonstrate the pressing need for a more-inclusive approach to governing risk in an open and transparent manner. Moreover, decision making without a requirement of public participation not only encourages the capture of government agencies by business interests, but also promotes a relatively uncritical acceptance of science on the part of the public. However, creating practical participatory mechanisms for the public is increasingly difficult in a decision-making environment heavily dominated by technical expertise.

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