Most environmental reforms will be opposed by those who have benefited from the right to pollute and degrade without penalty. Following through on environmental reform therefore requires a public constituency for change to act as a counterweight. This is why a growing number of concerned governments are investing in public awareness campaigns and fostering a vibrant nongovernmental environmental movement. Smart governments are realizing that they are often most effective in dealing with environmental issues when they work in partnerships. The value of such partnerships stems from not only the different perspectives and skills that are brought to the table but also the necessity of carrying out concerted actions to address some environmental issues.
Forest management is a good example.
Moving from current unsustainable practices to those which incorporate new knowledge about sustainable harvesting and processing often requires concerted action by private, community, and governmental actors. This past year, the World Bank helped establish a Forest Management Transformation Initiative that will bring together leading private enterprises, nongovernmental and community specialists, and international financial institutions to help remove constraints to adopting sustainable practices throughout the forest-product value chain. Effective partnerships are also becoming more common at the transnational level. Since the Earth Summit in 1992, for example, regional seas programs have made important progress in the Baltic, Mediterranean, Black, and Aral Seas and in Lake Victoria. The sharing of international rivers is also being addressed, albeit slowly.