Germany is one of the contracting countries in the International Commissions for the Protection of the Danube, the Elbe, the Oder and the Rhine.

Germany further initiated an International Dialogue Forum on "Global Water Politics - Cooperation for Transboundary Water Management" at Petersberg, near Bonn, in March 1998.
In September 1998 it hosted an International Round Table on "Transboundary Water Management - Experience on International River and Lake Commissions" at Villa Borsig in Berlin. 

In December 2001 Germany will host an International Conference on Freshwater. The conference is intended to facilitate discussions on sustainable development and freshwater issues for the Rio + 10 Summit in 2002.