Ensuring the environmental sustainability of emerging technologies

New technologies are being developed to provide various benefits to our society. However, while some attention has been given to the possible adverse societal impacts of emerging technologies such as in digitalisation, there is relatively lower attention to the long-term risks that some emerging technologies could pose to the natural environment or the climate. The rapid development and implementation of solutions to well-identified problems may lead to the pursuit and promotion of technologies without an appropriate impact assessment and due consideration of possible undesirable side effects. The ‘rush for solutions’ to immediate problems may overlook countervailing risks to environmental sustainability.

Phase 1

In October 2021, IRGC convened an international and interdisciplinary group of experts to discuss concerns about the environmental sustainability of emerging technologies, and the extent to which these concerns are considered during the technology design and development stages, and in guidance from public policy. The workshop discussed these concerns, reviewed various response strategies and formulated some generic recommendations across technology domains:

  • chemicals (advanced materials and smart nanomaterials)
  • synthetic biology (gene editing and gene drives)
  • digital technologies (machine learning, cloud computing and blockchain),
  • carbon dioxide removal and sequestration, and
  • space technologies.

Emerging technologies in these domains pose unique challenges to risk assessors and managers because there is a general lack of tools and data to evaluate their potential adverse impacts on the environment, and often pervasive uncertainty on how they will be deployed in the real world. Early-stage technology assessment and prospective life cycle assessment are not common practices. These challenges are compounded by ambiguity due to different interests and views.

Based on the workshop discussions, IRGC published in March 2022 a report describing the current attitude towards these issues, and instruments available or considered to help reach the goal of environmental sustainability. The report suggests ways to address ex-ante environmental risks that might manifest only after design choices for a technology are already made. The report and the executive summary are available below.

Phase 2

In 2022, IRGC invited authors to produce papers about specific emerging technologies, where concerns of environmental sustainability may manifest when those technologies reach deployment, and instruments or approaches to identify and address potential adverse consequences on the environment early in the design process.

 A compilation of all papers (edited volume) is available for download in PDF format here, and each individual paper can be downloaded separately below.

Learning from these case studies helps us understand the extent to which concerns about potential risks to environmental sustainability are or could be taken into account earlier, with specific approaches or dedicated instruments.

Phase 3

In 2023, IRGC produced a  guidance document consisting of specific recommendations targeting lawmakers and regulators, technology developers, research funding organisations, technology investors, industry and standard setting organisations. Each set of recommendations aims to ensure that respective actors do not create or aggravate threats to environmental sustainability or contribute to avoiding or mitigating the risks.

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