Part I General Issues, Ch.9 Science and Technology from Agenda Setting to Implementation
Steinar Andresen, Jon Birger Skjærseth
From: The Oxford Handbook of International Environmental Law
Edited By: Daniel Bodansky, Jutta Brunnée, Ellen Hey
- Subject(s):
- Environmental disputes — Sustainable development — Pollution
Some analysts tend to see science and technology as two sides of the same coin.1 In our opinion, the two may go together and reinforce each other, but they may also be very different animals. Science serves essentially as a vehicle for ‘early warning’ about environmental problems, and may provide guidance on what to do in order to alleviate or ‘cure’ a problem. Overall, science, therefore, usually has a ‘positive’ impact on the problem at hand, to the extent that it is heeded. Technology, however, can be either a blessing or a curse for the environment and...
