Supporting the Shift to climate resilient WASH services

The WASH sector must undergo a major transformation to mitigate and adapt to the impacts of climate change. In this session, we will show how to shift to climate resilient WASH services can be achieved using seed funding, by mobilising the sector to develop a climate rationale (climate science) and ensure that WASH is clearly included in key national climate priorities.

With small investments in desk research and through extensive multi-stakeholder consultation, a demonstrated climate-rationale can be formulated, in which the observed and projected impacts of climate change on WASH services are articulated through a solid analysis, and technical solutions are identified to mitigate and adapt to the climate risks. The resources required to undertake the research and convene the sector in the selected countries to agree a clear climate rationale and to have this integrated into national climate and WASH policies has been very modest, yet the impact enormous in terms of synergetic impact.

This session presents a variety of case studies from different regions, and through discussion with participants, will shed light on lessons learned, challenges and opportunities in the development of a climate rationale for the WASH sector and the importance of collaborating with the climate sector.