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4.1 Increase the Role of the Scientific Community and Non-Governmental Organizatons
66. Scientific groups and NGOs have played – with the help of young people – a major part in the environmental movement from its earliest beginnings. Scientists were the first to point out evidence of significant environmental risks and changes resulting from the growing intensity of human activities. Other non-governmental organizations and citizens' groups pioneered in the creation of public awareness and political pressures that stimulated governments to act. Scientific and non-governmental communities played a vital role in the United Nations Conference on the Human Environment in Stockholm.

67. These groups have also played an indispensable role since the Stockholm Conference in identifying risks, in assessing environmental impacts and designing and implementing measures to deal with them, and in maintaining he high degree of public and political interest required as a basis for action. Today, major national 'State of the Environment' reports are being published by some NGOs (in Malaysia, India, and the United States, for instance). Several international NGOs have produced significant reports on the status of and prospects for the global environment and natural resource base.

68. The vast majority of these bodies a-e national or local in nature, and a successful transition to sustainable development will require substantial strengthening of their capacities. To an increasing extent, national NGOs draw strength from association with their counterparts in other coutries and from participation in international programmes and consultations. NGOs in developing countries are particularly in need of international support — professional and moral as well as financial to carry out their roles effectively. /…