Schedule 2: Improving the natural environment: Northern Ireland Part 2: Policy statement on environmental principles Policy statement on environmental principles
Paragraph 6(1) requires the Department of Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs ("the Department") to prepare a policy statement on the environmental principles. This means that the Department must draft the policy statement in line with requirements in paragraphs 6 and 7.
	Sub-paragraph (2) provides specific information on what the environmental principles policy statement must include. The policy statement will provide information for Northern Ireland departments and Ministers of the Crown on the interpretation and proportionate application of the environmental principles when developing policies. Proportionate application means ensuring that action taken on the basis of the principles balances the potential for environmental benefit against other benefits and costs associated with the action.
	Sub-paragraph (3) sets out that the Department may explain in the statement how other considerations should be taken into account by Northern Ireland departments and Ministers of the Crown when they are interpreting and applying the environmental principles. For example, it may be necessary to balance the application of a specific environmental principle with other considerations, such as economic and social benefits.
	Sub-paragraph (4) details two aims that the Department must be satisfied that the statement will contribute to. These are:
The improvement of environmental protection. In this context, this means ensuring that the policy statement can be used to shape policies in a way that contributes to protection of the environment.
Sustainable development. Sustainable development can be summarised as development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs. It involves trying to achieve environmental benefit alongside economic growth and social progress. Therefore, the policy statement will require Northern Ireland departments to consider needs of future generations when developing policies. This means that a Department should consider the environmental impact of their policies together with economic and social factors and, as much as possible, ensure each policy achieves all three aims.
	Sub-paragraph (5) sets out the list of environmental principles the policy statement will cover. These principles are drawn from a number of sources, including, for example, the Rio Declaration on Environment and Development (1992). There is no single agreed definition of the environmental principles. The policy statement will explain in more detail how these are to be interpreted and provide information as to how they should be applied.
	The meaning of the individual environmental principles are as follows:
The principle that environmental protection should be integrated into the making of policy: Environmental protection must be embedded in the making of policies.
The principle of preventative action to avert environmental damage: Preventive action should be taken to avert environmental damage.
The precautionary principle, so far as relating to the environment: Where there are threats of serious irreversible environmental damage, lack of full scientific certainty shall not be used as a reason for postponing cost-effective measures to prevent environmental degradation.
The principle that environmental damage should as a priority be rectified at source: Environmental damage should as a priority be rectified by targeting its original cause and taking preventive action at source.
The polluter pays principle: The costs of pollution control and remediation should be borne by those who cause pollution rather than the community at large.
	Further direction on these environmental principles will be set out in the policy statement. These principles cannot be changed without further primary legislation.