Increasing public awareness about environmental laws

Description

Increasing public awareness about environmental laws involves systematically informing and educating communities about existing legal frameworks that protect the environment. This strategy empowers individuals and organizations to recognize their rights and responsibilities, encourages compliance, and facilitates reporting of violations. By making legal information accessible and understandable, it addresses problems of ignorance and non-compliance, ultimately fostering greater environmental stewardship and supporting enforcement efforts to prevent degradation and promote sustainable resource management.

Context

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.

Implementation

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.