Editing Agenda 21 (section)

==Implementation==
The [[Commission on Sustainable Development]] acts as a high-level forum on sustainable development and has acted as preparatory committee for summits and sessions on the implementation of Agenda&nbsp;21. The UN&nbsp;Division for Sustainable Development acts as the secretariat to the Commission and works "within the context of" Agenda&nbsp;21.{{citation needed|date=April 2019}}

Implementation by member states remains voluntary, and its adoption has varied.{{citation needed|date=April 2019}}

=== Local level ===
{{See also| International Council for Local Environmental Initiatives}}
The implementation of Agenda&nbsp;21 was intended to involve action at international, national, regional and local levels. Some national and state governments have legislated or advised that local authorities take steps to implement the plan locally, as recommended in Chapter&nbsp;28 of the document. These programs are often known as "Local Agenda 21" or "LA21".<ref>[http://www.ace.mmu.ac.uk/eae/sustainability/Older/Local_Agenda21.html Manchester Metropolitan University] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090722181929/http://www.ace.mmu.ac.uk/eae/sustainability/Older/Local_Agenda21.html |date=22 July 2009 }}</ref> For example, in the Philippines, the plan is "Philippines Agenda&nbsp;21" (PA21). The group, ICLEI-Local Governments for Sustainability, formed in 1990; today its members come from over 1,000&nbsp;cities, towns, and counties in 88&nbsp;countries and is widely regarded as a paragon of Agenda&nbsp;21 implementation.<ref name=nyt>{{cite news|last1=Kaufman|first1=Leslie|author2=Kate Zernike|author-link2=Kate Zernike|title=Activists Fight Green Projects, Seeing U.N. Plot|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2012/02/04/us/activists-fight-green-projects-seeing-un-plot.html?pagewanted=all|newspaper=The New York Times|date=3 February 2012|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120819154240/http://www.nytimes.com/2012/02/04/us/activists-fight-green-projects-seeing-un-plot.html?pagewanted=all|archive-date=19 August 2012}}</ref>

Europe turned out to be the continent where LA21 was best accepted and most implemented.<ref>{{cite journal|last=Smardon|first=Richard|title=A comparison of Local Agenda 21 implementation in North American, European and Indian cities|journal=Management of Environmental Quality|year=2008|volume=19|issue=1|pages=118–137|doi=10.1108/14777830810840408|bibcode=2008MEnvQ..19..118S |access-date=9 October 2013|url=https://www.scribd.com/doc/86583203/A-Comparison-of-Local-Agenda-21-Implementation-in-North-American-European-and-Indian-Cities|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150611110931/https://www.scribd.com/doc/86583203/A-Comparison-of-Local-Agenda-21-Implementation-in-North-American-European-and-Indian-Cities|archive-date=11 June 2015}}</ref> In Sweden, for example, four small- to medium-sized municipalities in the south-east of Sweden were chosen for a 5-year study of their Local Agenda 21 (LA21) processes a Local Agenda 21 initiative.<ref>{{cite journal|last=Jörby|first=Sofie|title=Local Agenda 21 in four Swedish Municipalities: a tool towards sustainability|journal=Journal of Environmental Planning and Management|year=2002|volume=45|issue=2|pages=219–244|doi=10.1080/09640560220116314|bibcode=2002JEPM...45..219J |s2cid=155038036}}</ref>