Health and Environmental Risk Governance in the French Context. C. Courvalin, MD, PHD, Directeur de Recherche au CNRS, Chargé de mission au ministère de l’Aménagement du territoire et de l’Environnement, SRAE,DGAD, MATE 20 av de Ségur, 75007 Paris, telephone 01 42 19 17 74, fax 01 42 19 17 71, e-mail catherine.courvalin@environnement.gouv.fr; P. Boisson, Conseil Général des Mines; W. Dab, APPA; M. Cohen De Lara, Cellule de prospective, MATE; O. Godard, CIRED, CNRS; G. Heriard Dubreuil, MUTADIS; V. Hervouet, ELF ATOCHEM; and J. Lochard, CEPN
Increasing public concern as regards health and environmental risks makes it necessary for public policies and regulation of risk assessment and management to comply with multiple and often non consistent expectations from the public in a rapidly changing environment.
Evolution of risk assessment and management is currently observed as a consequence of this context. Whereas the former technical approaches were playing down the existence of residual risk as well as scientific uncertainties, current reflections rather aim at empowering the stakeholders of hazardous activities in the decision-making process in order to build up social trust and public confidence.
This paper will present the conclusions of a work group entrusted by the French authorities with the task of proposing recommendations in order to update the risk assessment and management current approaches in the field of energy producing and consuming. The conclusions of this work are based on the analysis of three major issues as regards environmental health risks: climate change, atmospheric pollution, and radiation protection. It is also based on the 1997 report of the US Congress Commission on risk assessment and management.
The report points out the difficulty for the French “command and control“ regulatory tradition to comply with public demand for transparency and more democratic involvement in the decision-making process. The conclusion presents various recommendations as regards the role of scientific expertise, the use of economic analysis and the decision-making process in risk assessment and management. The conclusion particularly emphasis key aspects of the decision-making process such as: the necessity of contextualising risk assessment, the taking into account of scientific uncertainties and the need for stakeholders' involvement.
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