A number of companies have successfully used participatory approaches to address environmental problems. Consumer awareness, and product standards, industry codes and certification Governments can work with the private sector and NGOs to establish codes, standards and labels. This provides a framework which can work to the benefit of industry and consumers. This route can help build markets for dispersed, small-scale technologies where technologies are diverse, vendors are many, and consumers face high risks in evaluating and selecting technologies and suppliers. Codes and standards also provide a means for representing the interests of end-users who are absent from purchase or construction decisions.
Standards also reduce risk for consumers with regard to the equipment they are purchasing.
With regard to energy use, information programmes have proven successful in assisting energy consumers to understand and employ technologies and practices to use energy more efficiently. These programmes aim to increase consumers' awareness, acceptance, and use of particular technologies or utility energy conservation programmes. For industry, energy audit programmes are a more targeted type of information transaction than simple advertising. The existence of monitoring and verification protocols can help to reduce these inconsistencies and uncertainties. This uniform approach cuts transactions costs, allows project pooling and facilitates project financing.