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. Agenda 21 recommends developing and enforcing strict environmental control standards.
Most first-rank multinational companies' policies are to build overseas facilities to their own environmental standards or the host government's, whichever is higher. Countries that apply demanding environmental standards to new investments can rapidly improve the environmental performance of an industry.