9
Societal Dialogue on Risks and Benefits
9.1
Risk: A Balancing Act for Society
Whether natural or man-made, risks have always existed and posed a threat to
human life on Earth. However, the acceptance of some risks has allowed for benefits
in the form of exciting innovations that have improved quality of life and launched
new technologies previously unthinkable. Over the past century, the rapid and
progressive development of technology has led to a shift toward more and more
man-made risks (see Chap. 2). Many of these risks are now associated with systems
and technologies that have become so complex that they are understandable only
to technical experts and even then with increasing uncertainty. This is in addition
to the natural complexity of human health and the environment, which can require
complicated (and even non-existent) methods to properly model and test for adverse
effects. To complicate this further, rapid globalization has made weighing the risks
and benefits of chemical technology a very international affair. Society has also
been shifting toward increased individualism leading to a wide range of lifestyles,
preferences, and worldviews. All of these aspects have created the need for more
and more international dialogue with an increasing number of stakeholders, each
having their own varied, coexisting values and protection goals.
Achieving prosperity without taking on risk seems to be inherently impossible,
and recent developments of technology underline this. However, at a certain point,
accepting a risk might be considered too perilous for the prosperity it may provide.
From this point of view, progress itself could at times be seen as just as risky as a
lack of progress. Today, more than ever, a fundamental question to answer is: Given
the expected benefits of a chemical technology, what risk is society willing to take?
The earlier chapters on life cycle assessment (LCA), product and process risk
assessment, and thermal safety introduced methods and tools to help to identify,
understand, and manage the various types of risks that are associated with chemical
products and processes, specifically in regard to the guiding principles eco-efficiency
and inherent safety. This chapter introduces risk-benefit dialogue as a method to
© The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2021
K. Hungerbühler et al., Chemical Products and Processes,
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-62422-4_9
219
Societal Dialogue on Risks and Benefits
9.1
Risk: A Balancing Act for Society
Whether natural or man-made, risks have always existed and posed a threat to
human life on Earth. However, the acceptance of some risks has allowed for benefits
in the form of exciting innovations that have improved quality of life and launched
new technologies previously unthinkable. Over the past century, the rapid and
progressive development of technology has led to a shift toward more and more
man-made risks (see Chap. 2). Many of these risks are now associated with systems
and technologies that have become so complex that they are understandable only
to technical experts and even then with increasing uncertainty. This is in addition
to the natural complexity of human health and the environment, which can require
complicated (and even non-existent) methods to properly model and test for adverse
effects. To complicate this further, rapid globalization has made weighing the risks
and benefits of chemical technology a very international affair. Society has also
been shifting toward increased individualism leading to a wide range of lifestyles,
preferences, and worldviews. All of these aspects have created the need for more
and more international dialogue with an increasing number of stakeholders, each
having their own varied, coexisting values and protection goals.
Achieving prosperity without taking on risk seems to be inherently impossible,
and recent developments of technology underline this. However, at a certain point,
accepting a risk might be considered too perilous for the prosperity it may provide.
From this point of view, progress itself could at times be seen as just as risky as a
lack of progress. Today, more than ever, a fundamental question to answer is: Given
the expected benefits of a chemical technology, what risk is society willing to take?
The earlier chapters on life cycle assessment (LCA), product and process risk
assessment, and thermal safety introduced methods and tools to help to identify,
understand, and manage the various types of risks that are associated with chemical
products and processes, specifically in regard to the guiding principles eco-efficiency
and inherent safety. This chapter introduces risk-benefit dialogue as a method to
© The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2021
K. Hungerbühler et al., Chemical Products and Processes,
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-62422-4_9
219