The Rio+20 Conference in 2012 was an opportunity to reflect on progress towards sustainable development over the previous 20 years. One of its main outcomes was an agreement to launch the process of developing a set of Sustainable Development Goals, which build on the Millennium Development Goals and converge with the post-2015 development agenda.

The Rio+20 outcome document "The Future We Want" explicitly recognized "that water is at the core of sustainable development". Furthermore, while reconfirming previous commitments made at the Millennium Assembly in 2000 and World Summit on Sustainable Development in 2002, at Rio+20 Member States committed to (A Post-2015 Global Goal for Water: Synthesis of Key Findings and Recommendations from UN-Water. UN-Water, 2014):

• the progressive realization of access to safe and affordable drinking-water and sanitation for all;
• significant improvement in the implementation of integrated water resources management at all levels as appropriate;
• protection and sustainable management of ecosystems, recognizing their key role in maintaining water quantity and quality;
• addressing water-related disasters, such as floods and droughts, as well as water scarcity;
• significant reduction of water pollution, increased water quality and significant improvement in wastewater treatment and reuse;
• improvement in water efficiency and reduction of water losses.