A process has been underway since the 1992 Earth Summit to recognise the important role of citizens and NGOs in questioning government environmental policy and lobbying for change and increased environmental protection. Governments are often faced with political problems from vested interest groups when it comes to implementing environmental legislation or actions, and thus public lobbying and NGO campaigning has a vital role in pushing through new environmental actions.
It is a political necessity to ensure that issues of environment and health are tackled, since they have become fundamental to achieving the quality of life citizens now expect and require.
Paragraph 44 of the Århus Convention on Access to Information, Public Participation in Decision-Making and Access to Justice in Environmental Matters (1998) recognizes the role of European environmental NGOs to question government and European environmental policy while at the same time encourages European governments to increase practical and financial support to environmental NGOs.