This resource book is a product of a project on sustainable development strategies initiatied by the OECD DAC Working Party on Development Cooperation and Environment. It builds on and complements an earlier output – DAC Guidelines on Strategies for Sustainable Development – published in 2001.

Members of the Working Party are Australia, Austria, Belgium, Canada, Denmark, European Commission, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Luxembourg, The Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Portugal, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, the United Kingdom and the United States. The International Monetary Fund, the World Bank and the United Nations Development Programme participate as permanent observers.

The Club du Sahel, Development Centre, International Institute for Environment and Development, United Nations Environment Programme, World Conservation Union and World Resources Institute participate regularly in the work of the Working Party. The project has been undertaken by a special Task Force of the Working Party co-chaired by the UK Department for International Development (DFID) and the European Commission (EC-DG8) with strong support by the German Agency for Technical Cooperation (GTZ), and coordination and technical support provided by the International Institue for Environment and Development (IIED).

The Capacity 21 initiative of the United Nations Development Programme and the United Nations Department of Environmental and Social Affairs actively supported the project. The Task Force was led by Adrian Davis, Paula Chalinder and Jonathan Hobbs (DFID), Artur RungeMetzger and Liselotte Isaksson (EC-DGVI), and Stephan Paulus and Kathrin Heidbrink (GTZ). Remi Paris of the DAC Secretariat provided guidance and advice throughout.