Providing public information on effects of biotechnology

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 implementing programmes to create greater awareness among key decision makers and among the public of the potential and relative benefits and risks of environmentally sound application of biotechnology.

1. Society should be informed of the social and cultural impact of the development and application of biotechnology.

1. Supplying public information
2. Informing
3. Facilitating access to biotechnology information

1. Using biotechnology on an environmentally sound basis
2. Requiring safety of genetically modified food
3. Promoting public participation in environmental decision-making
4. Involving local communities in pollution control

1. Assessing impacts of genetically modified organisms on biodiversity

1. Advancing biotechnology

1. Unsafe genetically modified food

1. Risk
2. Misinformation
3. Information
4. Ill
5. Disinformation
6. Deformation

1. The Biosafety Clearing-House
2. UNEP National Biosafety Activities
3. Industrial Biotechnology and Climate Change
4. Experiences in Engaging the Public on Biotechnology Advances and Regulation
5. Biotechnology and the Environment: Issues and Linkages
6. Biotechnology, the Media, and Public Policy
7. Strategic approaches to informing the public about biotechnology in Latin America
8. Biotechnology: what it is and how it's about to change our lives
9. Recombinant DNA Biotechnology in Balance: Benefits and Concerns of a New Technology