Increasing public awareness about environmental laws

Agenda 21 recommends that governments, with the support of competent international organizations where appropriate, should regularly assess the laws and regulations enacted and related institutional/administrative machinery established at the national/state and local/municipal levels in the field of environment and sustainable development, with a view to rendering them effective in practice. Programmes for this purpose could include the promotion of public awareness, preparation and distribution of guidance material, and specialized training, including workshops, seminars, education programmes and conferences, for public officials who design, implement, monitor and enforce laws and regulations.

This strategy features in the framework of Agenda 21 as formulated at UNCED (Rio de Janeiro, 1992), now coordinated by the United Nations Commission on Sustainable Development and implemented through national and local authorities.