An intact environment with fertile soils, clean water and air, a wealth of flora and fauna and minerals are the natural basis for our life, but this has undergone continuous deterioration over the last decades:

• More forestland is lost worldwide year by year than ever before.
• The rate of plant and animal species currently threatened with extinction is thousands of times higher than the average over the history of the earth.
• There has been a drastic decline in the quality of 70 per cent of the available pastureland in Latin America. Every year, 60,000 square kilometres of land, three quarters of the territory of Austria, turn into wasteland in Asia and Africa.

Safeguarding livelihoods

The people in the poorest countries of the world are worst affected by environmental destruction and the depletion of natural resources. More than ever then, development cooperation needs to ensure a balanced development that does not despoil vital natural resources. Three-quarters of the poor worldwide live in rural areas and most of them earn their living from agriculture. The shortage of resources such as water, fertile soil or fuelwood threatens their food security and sources of income. As they largely lack any reserves or alternative livelihoods, poor sections of the population are also particularly vulnerable to environmental changes.

Protecting resources

This is why preserving the environment and conserving vital natural resources number among the primary objectives of Austrian Development Cooperation (ADC). The responsible use of natural resources is a fundamental principle in every activity and project financed by Austria. About one third of the funds for bilateral programmes and projects is allocated for the purpose of environmental protection. ADC promotes the sustainable use of land and vegetation. It is engaged in developing renewable energy, sustainable water supply and sewage disposal. ADC also supports clean production by disseminating modern technology in industry and commerce.
Austrian Development Cooperation attaches great importance to partnership with other donors, national institutions and the local population, because environmental awareness amongst policymakers and civil society organisations that actively organise and direct local development is the best guarantee for the sustainable use and conservation of vital natural resources in partner countries.

International cooperation

The global scale of environmental change calls for worldwide cooperation. The international community has adopted a number of global environmental accords, above all the three so-called Rio conventions on biodiversity, climate change and combating desertification. These attest to its shared determination to take action against environmental destruction, advance sustainable development and cooperate at international level.

Good climate for development

Man-made climate change worldwide clearly poses one of the greatest challenges. Increasing droughts, storms and floods are the foreseeable consequences. They afflict developing countries worst and threaten to reverse the progress already made in poverty reduction. To the best of its ability as part of international efforts and initiatives, ADC pays special attention to climate protection in accord with its other development goals.