Ethical technology assessment of natural ecological values using a delphi process

Technological development has come at the price of serious ecological and environmental problems, such as pollution, ecological damage, and the exhaustion of natural resources. Ecological values related to nature have become an essential factor in the assessment of technology. New technologies often give rise to previously unknown ethical controversies and dilemmas. Although the assessment of technology has always stressed output and efficiency, research on ethical Technology Assessment (eTA) focuses mainly on developing tools with which to identify the adverse effects of new technologies in the early stages. This paper presents a new form of technology assessment focusing on natural and ecological values to determine the technological advancements worthy of further development and implementation. This approach is based on a check-list for the assessment of natural and ecological values according to four crucial guidelines: (1) ecological security, (2) sustainable development, (3) environmental justice, (4) respect for nature. We used using a Delphi process to establish indicators: (1–1) low pollution, (1–2) low consumption, (1–3) low platoon carbon, (2–1) refraining from wasting resources, (2–2) recycling resources, (3–1) reasonable resource development, (3–2) enhancement of product durability, (3–3) use of decomposable materials, (3–4) fair allocation, (4–1) treating animals with respect, (4–2) maintaining natural diversity.