Countries are sovereign in setting their own goals such as the protection of the environment, biodiversity or the health of their citizens. In so doing, they often adopt environmental and public health strategies as part of their national policy and legislation. These strategies, in turn, are often derived from, or compliant with, broader internationally agreed instruments. Environmental and health policies and laws often define sets of “protection goals” or values to be protected. Some protection goals are defined broadly (e.g. conservation of biodiversity) while others are more specific (e.g. protection of a threatened or endangered species). Regardless of whether they are broad or specific, protection goals set the context for all (environmental) risk assessments.