The need for climate action has never been more urgent, with 2024 being the warmest year on record. Global temperatures are heading towards an increase of two or, possibly, even three degrees Celsius – unless countries radically scale up their climate ambitions.
The effects of climate change are largely evident in changes to the water cycle. We urgently need to scale up water, sanitation and hygiene focussed climate adaptation to make communities more resilient in the face of climate change.
To facilitate the implementation of climate-resilient water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH), this brief highlights how to elevate its prioritisation in national climate planning. It emphasises how climate finance should contribute, and the activities for which public, private and innovative sources are relevant.
It clarifies the unique role public finance plays for fundamental aspects of WASH in climate adaptation, and how sound government leadership, can create an investment-friendly environment where private and other sources can contribute to large-scale change.
Recommendations for high-income countries:
- Technically and financially support low and middle-income countries in developing and implementing their Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) and National Adaptation Plans (NAPs), upon request, and following the priorities identified by those countries themselves.
- Meet their climate finance commitments and work diligently to deliver the USD 300 billion goal to developing countries in a timely, transparent, and predictable manner.
- Demonstrate leadership in identifying a realistic ‘Baku to Belém Roadmap’ and achieving the USD 1.3 trillion goal, prioritising the adaptation needs of communities most vulnerable to climate change, and providing international public finance for activities where private and other sources of finance are unsuitable.
- Radically scale up grants-based international public finance for adaptation and WASH, especially for vulnerable communities, to contribute to meeting the adaptation finance gap of USD 359.5 billion annually up to 2030.
- Where appropriate governance structures are in place, scale up total climate finance by facilitating private investments across the four areas: large-scale water infrastructure, municipal water and sanitation infrastructure, small-scale and rural WASH services, and water-centric nature-based solutions.
- Support the development of robust indicators for tracking progress under the Global Goal on Adaptation (GGA), including for water and sanitation, integrate the GGA framework into national adaptation planning, and commit to providing technical and financial support for implementation in low and middle-income countries.
Recommendations for low and middle-income countries:
- Integrate inclusive and measurable WASH activities into their NDCs and NAPs, following our guidance, and provide budgets detailing how the activities will be financed.
- Support the development of robust indicators for tracking progress under the Global Goal on Adaptation (GGA), including for water and sanitation, and integrate the GGA framework into national adaptation planning to ensure results-based and effective climate action.
- Engage strategically with a range of financial instruments and actors to deliver climate-resilient WASH services, applying the most appropriate tools to each context while upholding the rights and delivering the basic needs of all citizens.