Building Science Into Management of Technology

• Pages: 10187-10196
• Date: 01 May 2026
• Published date: 01 May 2026
• Author: Madison Calhoun,David Downes,Charles Weiss,Angela Bednarek,Juha I. Uitto
• Subject Matter: Derecho del Medio Ambiente

MAY/JUNE 2026 ENVIRONMENTAL LAW REPORTER 56 ELR 10187

DIALOGUE

BUILDING SCIENCE INTO

MANAGEMENT OF TECHNOLOGY

Technology has raised standards of living for people around the world, but technological developments

also have unintended and negative impacts on people, places, and the environment. Science is an essen-

tial driver of both technology’s advances and management of its impacts. Yet some long-standing threats,

such as climate change, continue to persist and grow despite well-established evidence of harm; emerging

advances in fields such as genetic engineering of fer grave risks along with great benefits. Meanwhile, public

trust in and funding of science are down, and dis- and misinformation are dramatically up, making it harder

to agree on the science needed to manage technology’s impacts. On October 23, 2025, ELI convened an

expert panel to discuss these issues. Below, we present a transcript of the discussion, which has been edited

for style, clarity, and space considerations.

SUMMARYSUMMARY

Madison Calhoun is Senior Manager of Educational

Programs at the Environmental Law Inst itute (ELI).

David Downes (moderator) is a Visiting Scholar at ELI.

Charles Weiss is a Distinguished Professor Emeritus at

Georgetown University.

Angela Bednarek is Director for Scientic Advancement

at e Pew Charitable Trusts.

Juha I. Uitto is a Visiting Scholar at ELI.

Madison Cal houn: I’d like to introduce our moderator,

David Downes, a visiting scholar at the Environmental

Law Institute. He is an experienced leader, advisor, ana-

lyst, teacher, and mentor in the elds of environment and

natural resources, w ith a focus on international law and

policy. From 2010 to 2025, David served in the Oce

of International Aairs of the U.S. Department of the

Interior (DOI); from 2000 to 2010, he was DOI’s trade

adviser, representing the Department in interagency pol-

icy deliberations and on U.S. delegations for numerous

bilateral, regional, and global trade a nd investment nego-

tiations. Before entering federal service, David practiced

in the nonprot sector with the Center for International

Env iron menta l Law.

David Downes: Increasingly powerful tec hnologies have

raised standa rds of living, quality of life, and well-being for

people around the world. But they can also have signic ant

negative impacts and pose serious threats to health and the

environment. S cience drives technological advances and

also informs the responses to the impacts of technology.

When I refer to science, I want to note that science is not

simply a body of knowledge, but a process, a method, an

enterprise to develop knowledge and understa nding. Sci-

ence has produced important successe s in terms of address-

ing threats from technology, like reducing pollution both

nationally and internationally.

But the response to some well-demonstrated threats,

such as climate change , has been inadequate, and emerging

advances in elds like genetic engineering oer great

risks as well as g reat benets. Meanwhile, public trust in

science and public funding of science are in decline while

misinformation is increasing dramatica lly.

Our focus today is on how to strengthen the role

of science in addressing technology’s impacts, and our

panel will explore the following questions: How can we

best develop and apply the science needed to manage

technology’s impacts? How can science be developed to

engage constructively and build trust with policymakers

and the public? And how can we do a better job of bridging

the gap between scientic knowledge of technology’s

impacts and the actions needed to mana ge those impacts?

With that background, I am honored to introduce today’s

speakers, starting with Charles Weiss, a distinguished

professor emeritus and former director of the Science,

Technology, and International Aai rs Program at the Walsh

School of Foreign Service at Georgetown University. He

was the rst science and technology adv isor to the World

Bank, and is a fellow of the America n Association for the

Advancement of Science and a member of the Council on

Foreign Relations.

Charles has written severa l books relevant to our

conversation today. His most recent book, e Survival

Nexus,1 provides a rema rkable and comprehensi ve overview

of the issues we’ll be tal king about today—the interweaving

1. C W, T S N: S, T, 

W A (Oxford Univ. Press 2021).

Copyright © 2026 Environmental Law Institute®, Washington, DC. Reprinted with permission from ELR®, https://www.eli.org