Getting sanitation back on the (global) agendaDespite the proven impact and interrelationship between sanitation and climate change, sanitation ...
Published on by Water Network Research, Official research team of The Water Network
Despite the proven impact and interrelationship between sanitation and climate change, sanitation is still not part of the climate conversation. It must be, not only to ensure the resilience of the infrastructure, communities, and ecosystems that we depend on in the face of a global climate emergency, but also to harness effective and under-utilized greenhouse gas mitigation possibilities and build the resilience of communities by providing them access to safe sanitation services.
This year marks the critical halfway point to the finish line of many of our current global development goals and 2030 agendas, including Sustainable Development Goal 6 (SDG6) "Water and Sanitation for All." Concerningly, over the past seven years we have seen SDG6, and sanitation in particular, being neglected in global and national climate policy and practice, resulting in stagnating progress and lack of resources and attention to this "cornerstone" SDG.
We will not achieve SDG6, nor any of the interrelated national and international goals that are intrinsically linked to water and sanitation for all, without getting sanitation firmly on the global agenda and back on track.
Sanitation is not only about toilets
Globally, two out of every five people still lack safely managed sanitation 1. This is defined as sanitation facilities that are not shared with other households and where excreta are safely disposed of in situ or transported and treated off-site. However, sanitation is not only about toilets and safe disposal of excreta, even though these are sorely lacking in many communities and households. Critically, it is also about managing increasing levels of sanitation-related pollution in our waterways, which is magnified through ever-increasing climate-related hazards, such as flooding and sea-level rise.
• The impact is not only limited to humans. Entire ecosystems and other species suffer as a result of our inadequate sanitation systems.
• Wetlands and coastal areas including coral reefs are particularly vulnerable to the impacts of poorly managed sanitation, affecting the communities and ecosystems on which they, and we all, depend. If our waterways do not thrive, we cannot thrive.
• Unmanaged sanitation is not only a contributor to poor health outcomes and the spread of diseases such as cholera, it is a major contributor to the climate crisis. Wastewater treatment is estimated to contribute at least 5% of global methane emissions2 and there is emerging evidence that this may be an underestimate. These emissions largely stem from anaerobic digestion in pit latrines and septic tanks that are not frequently emptied, and from wastewater treatment plants lacking methane capture. Actively and safely managed sanitation can reduce these emissions.
Attached link
https://blogs.worldbank.org/water/getting-sanitation-back-global-agendaTaxonomy
- Sanitation
- Sustainable Sanitation
- Water & Sanitation