Creating the first global guidelines for climate-resilient sanitation
As the world confronts the climate crisis, water security including access to clean drinking water and safe management of human waste and wastewater, otherwise known as sanitation, is increasingly recognised as a crucial component for both climate adaptation and mitigation. This shift is strongly reflected in University of Leeds research underpinning the first ever global guidelines for climate-resilient sanitation launched by the Green Climate Fund (GCF) last week!
The guidelines will provide structured advice to member states, utilities and service providers on how to design and structure projects for climate resilient sanitation, with funding from the GCF. They cover:
- interventions to increase the resilience of sanitation systems and services in the face of climate related disruption; and
- interventions to mitigate the effect of greenhouse gas emissions which are attributable to both sanitation systems and the absence or failure of sanitation.
At water@leeds we bring together over 500 academics and postgraduates across multiple disciplines at the University of Leeds to tackle major water issues. This work is closely aligned with the vital conversations on climate resilience taking place at COP.
Sanitation’s role in climate is twofold:
- It is essential for societal resilience against climate risks since it provides vital health protections, enabling societies to flourish and thrive, and better withstand shocks, as well as providing vital protection from infectious disease outbreaks during climate crises.
- It is also a significant contributor to greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. While the overall contribution of sanitation to GHG is currently relatively small compared to some sectors, an estimated 5 billion people will need to gain access to new sanitation over the coming 30 years, providing opportunities to offset significant potential new emissions through improved design and management of new sanitation.
Addressing the climate impact of sanitation is vital, both to reduce emissions and to adapt to the risks intensified by climate change. Our research has laid the groundwork for understanding sanitation’s key place in the climate debate.
Sanitation research at Leeds
In particular, Leeds research has contributed robust evidence on how climate affects sanitation, through studies like Climate Change Impacts on Urban Sanitation: A Systematic Review and Failure Mode Analysis, which explores the vulnerabilities of sanitation systems under changing climate conditions. Additionally, Leeds researchers are contributing to global GHG estimates from sanitation, a recent Leeds publication highlighted that sanitation in Kampala produces 189 kt CO2 e per year, which may represent more than half of the total city-level emissions. These studies provide essential insights that can be used to create adaptive sanitation systems that can endure climate stressors while minimising emissions.
By partnering with the UK Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office (FCDO) in the WASH Systems for Health (WS4H) project, Leeds is also supporting six low and middle-income countries in sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia to implement climate-resilient water, sanitation, and hygiene (WASH) systems. Through WS4H, we provide learning support and conduct programme research to bring these climate-resilient solutions into practical, scalable application worldwide.
Looking towards COP29 and beyond, we hope governments and other actors will fully embrace the need for climate resilience in sanitation. Solutions lie in both foundational research, to deepen understanding of the climate-sanitation nexus, and in actionable, programme-focused research that addresses today’s challenges. We call on all stakeholders to recognise and act on sanitation’s critical role within the climate agenda, ensuring safe, resilient, and sustainable systems for all.
Blog written by water@Leeds: Dr Paul Hutchings, Professor Barbara Evans, Dr Miller Alonso Camargo-Valero and Dr Gabriela Lopez-Gonzalez
Featured image: by Deven Dadbhawala, licensed as Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs
Article image: “Providing clean water and flood-resistant shelter” by DFID – UK Department for International Development is licensed under CC BY 2.0. Flood-affected people in Sindh, Pakistan, recipients of UK humanitarian aid in response to the 2010 floods.