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 establishing national assessment and systematic observation systems and the evaluation of programmes and processes, including establishment of definitions, standards, norms and intercalibration methods, and the capability for initiating corrective action as well as improving the formulation and implementation of programmes and projects.