The GEO project is a response to the environmental reporting requirements of UN Agenda 21 and to a UNEP Governing Council decision of May 1995.
It was introduced after the 1992 Rio Conference on Environment and Development, at a time when government and stakeholders lacked a common information basis to develop a broad and comprehensive view of environmental issues.
[6] GEO is a global process conducted by the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP).
Its approach is based on the global integrated environment assessment (IEA),[7] as well as at a regional, national and local levels around the world.
The result of the process is intended to inform policy and decision-making at the national and international levels.