Ten years after the United Nations Conference on Environment and Development (UNCED) in Rio de Janeiro, environment, energy and water issues returned to the top of the international agenda at the World Summit on Sustainable Development (WSSD) in Johannesburg. It was agreed that the visions of sustainable development and poverty alleviation can only be realised if attention is sharply refocused upon these issues.

Even now, some 1.2 billion people have no clean water, while more than 2 billion have no access to a reliable energy supply, and around 2.5 billion lack sanitation services. Effective infrastructure is a prerequisite for economic development and poverty alleviation. In particular in the rapidly expanding cities in many developing countries, the problems of high population growth, rapid industrial development and a sharp increase in road traffic are assuming alarming proportions. The results are rising resource consumption, more air, water and soil pollution, and health problems - in other words, poorer quality of life.

Since long-term development is impossible without an intact environment, GTZ aims to help improve living conditions in developing countries through better management of infrastructure - energy, water, waste and transport. The responsible use of natural resources, environmental protection, pollution abatement and targeted environmental management are key conditions for sustainable development.