 Dear students, in this module, we are going to understand the risk, technology, environment and their interrelationship, the conceptual intersection of risk, technology and environment. Sociology illuminates how human activities and technological innovations impact our environment, which in turn amplifies or mitigate the risk for society. These risks are multidimensional and consequently having multiple effects on human life. For example, in Pakistan, the unregulated adoption of coal energy, industrialization, deforestation for urbanization and housing societies has been the major cause of increased air and water pollution. So if we look at the Pakistani society and its environment currently, we see that there are multiple problems which are jeopardizing our future in a way that we see that how our future generations are going to survive in such a risky environment. So the societal perception of risk that how our society perceives this risk, whether they are very much conscious about it, do they really feel or do they really understand that how risky their today's practices can be for their future generations. So societal risk perceptions are shaped by the balance of benefits and potential harm associated with the technology and its impact on the environment. So technology as a double-edged sword, which is technical advancements can both exacerbate and alleviate environmental risks. For example, while technology in Pakistan's textile industry contributed to increased productivity. But at the same time, it has also led to increase the waste and pollution. However, recent investments in clean technologies or renewable energies demonstrate the potential for reducing these environmental impacts. So we need to be very careful while adopting this technology that to what extent it would contribute to the environmental degradation. So how the risk is producing the social inequality. The distribution of environmental risk is often socially unequal or unequally distributed. So we see that marginalized populations in Pakistan are bearing most of the brunt of the consequences of these unregulated policies particularly. Wherever there is an industry in any area, the residues of that industry unfortunately have many policies where there are loopholes, so they cannot be regulated in that way. So the ground water that is depleted and degraded, as a result of that, the surrounding populations do not have the effect of portable water. So we need to see that to what extent we are producing and we are trying to create the effective policies. And then the role of policy and regulation. The effective policy and regulation can help manage the triadic relationship of risk, technology and our environment. So Pakistan's recent policy focus on planting 10 billion trees is a perfect example of proactive steps towards mitigating the environmental risks. Then we can see that whether Oldrishbeck's theory of risk society can help us understand that how this triangular relationship of risk, technology and environment can be understood. So theory holds the relevance in the context where Oldrishbeck reflects that the modern societies are increasingly preoccupied with the future and also with the safety which generate certain kinds of risk. So this theory provides a better lens through which to view the industrial development in Pakistan, noting that how it is bringing the prosperity but also generating certain kinds of environmental risks. Another example could be the influx of automobile industry in Pakistan, particularly after the dawn of the 21st century, we see that the air pollution and smoke have become a permanent feature of our urban life, consequently leading to various social, environmental as well as health issues. And Giddens concept of reflexive modernity can also helps us understand that the current scenario how it is important to understand that according to Giddens the social practices are constantly examined and deformed in the light of incoming information about those very practices thus constituting a system of control. So this concept has to be applied to Pakistani context as the country is continuously struggling to reevaluate its technological practices in the light of their environmental impact. We need to have a better perspective through which we could be able to assess that how our practices are being converted into the cost and benefit, whether these practices are putting us into a more expensive future where our future generations are going to suffer or if these policies are creating a relative balance both for present as well as future generations. So, we need to understand these concepts through this sociological lens.