The in dubio pro natura principle: a key regulatory challenge for incorporation of uncertainty in risk-based environmental decision-making

The objective of this paper is to demonstrate the transition from the precautionary principle to the in dubio pro natura principle, as a solution and approach for making anticipatory decisions on environmental damages. These damages are caused by ignorance of the "current state of the science" about the potential risks that certain activities, technology, processes, or products may have. The methodology used was documentary analysis, and the theoretical framework adopted considered a hermeneutic and holistic approach to studying this problem. In the results chapter, the authors present some reflections from comparative law, with special emphasis on the exchange of legal knowledge; and on the complexity of adopting a decision that favors nature, when there is no knowledge of potentially irreversible damage. Finally, the paper concludes that the in dubio pro natura principle could be a solution to the problem of the institutional legitimacy of the precautionary principle in complex cases.