Climate Change and WASH (Unicef)

1. Jill Lawler, UNICEF
10 September, 2012
UNICEF EAST ASIA AND PACIFIC REGIONAL OFFICE

2. Climate Change Evidence
- Temperatures have increased an
average of 0.74°C within the past
century
- Projected temperature increases in
AP of 0.5–2°C by 2030 and 1–7°C by
2070
- In 2011, global emissions of carbon
dioxide reached 389.6 ppm of CO2-
equivalent
- Evidence of changes in sea levels,
arctic temperatures and sea ice

3. Observed impacts
Mongolia
Grassland and forest areas have declined by 7% and 26%, 7% of steppe desert
19% decline in surface water since 1970s
Indonesia
Data over 50 year period show decreasing trends in December–January rainfall in
parts of Papua, Sumatra and the Kalimantan Islands, and increasing trends in
rainfall in most of Java, Bali and NTT
Philippines
Average temperature has increased by 0.648°C for 1951 to 2010. The rate of
increase for night time temperature 3 times than day time temperature increase
Pacific Islands
Sea levels currently increasing at a rate of 3.9 millimetres per year for Kiribati
(1992–2010) and 5.6 millimetres per year for Vanuatu (1993–2009)
Viet Nam
Sea level increased by 9cm in past 30 years, 1 m rise by 2100

4. Projected impacts
Frequency of heavy rainfall Sea Level
likely to increase Rise
Increases in extremely hot
days virtually certain
Sea level rise very likely to Multiple Hazard
lead to flooding
Index
Low
Medium
Heat waves very likely to
High
Severe
increase in length, frequency,

5. Potential WASH related impacts of climate
change
Natural resources
•Increased precipitation intensity and variability with risk of flooding and drought
•Higher risk of water pollution and disease from elevated water temperatures
•Saline intrusion of coastal aquifers from rise in sea levels
•Rising levels of groundwater pollution
Infrastructure
•Need for greater investment in flood protection, storage capacity, supply and
treatment systems, reconstruction of damaged WASH infrastructure etc.
•Need to supply WASH services to new, mobile populations
Demand
•Increased unsustainable use of surface and groundwater resources
•Increased competition between WASH and agriculture (irrigation, farming)
Access
•Multiplication of livelihood problems as a result of rapid climatic change
•Possible failure of regulatory systems and/or legislation aimed at protecting
rights of individuals or community to access water for multiple uses

7. Access to Water and Sanitation in EAP
From JMP-UNICEF database. 2010 data.

8. ‘No regrets’ solutions to reduce
risk, build resilience
Source: SOWC, 2007

9. Building resilience of the WASH sector
• Iterative process of monitoring, research, evaluation, learning,
and innovation to reduce risk and promote adaptive
management
• Build knowledge through risk assessments and scenario building
• Translate knowledge into plans and strategies, policies and
programmes supported by monitoring and information
management systems
• Low-regrets measures are starting points for addressing
projected threats

10. Examples of Adaptation Approaches
Small Multipurpose
Rainwater Harvesting Aquifer Recharge
Dams
Ponds
Subsurface Dams

11. Effective Exploitation of Groundwater
Groundwater Exploitation and
Groundwater Recharge
Protection
Mean annual groundwater recharge in mm/year
Source: P. Doll et al. 2003,

12. Water Conservation and Efficiency
Water Conservation
Waterless Urinal
Campaigns
Leak in Water Supply
System

13. UNICEF’s and Climate Change Adaptation
Many elements must come together
Adaptation to Climate Change Training Module

14. Expanding the
knowledge base
Impact assessments in
Indonesia, Mongolia,
Philippines and Kiribati and
Vanuatu
Illustrate patterns and trends
of climate change and disaster
impacts on child survival
Follow-up study underway to
analyze the role of social
protection in advancing
disaster risk reduction

15. Strengthening risk informed policies,
programmes and allocations
Combine hazard,
climate data
with …
Child development indicators
(e.g. net enrollment rates, water and
sanitation coverage, health and nutrition,
household income, per capita budget
expenditure, immunization rates

16. National interventions
National WASH assessments
conducted in Indonesia, Lao PDR, Viet
Nam and the Philippines
Goal to identify hazards and impacts
to WASH sector; identify 'adaptations’
Country Profile Cards conducted for a
number of countries in the Region
UNICEF supporting a number of
country-specific interventions
E.g. Groundwater sustainability
assessments (China), water safety
plans (Viet Nam), mainstreaming of
DRR/CCA in WASH (Indonesia)

17. Capacity Building At All Levels
1. Knowledge generation:
•Training in water resource management, risk management
•Partnership with universities
•Improve access to journals and scientific materials
•Data gathering of climate observations and impacts on WASH
2. Knowledge dissemination:
•Guidance to media on how to report CC related to WASH
•Training of key decision-makers
•Integration of end users perspectives and needs
3. Informed Action:
•Pilot projects on adaptation in WASH
•Forums to assess on WASH policy needs for adaptation

18. Promoting IWRM
Integrated Water Resources Management (IWRM) is the ideal
framework in which to evaluate, design, implement and monitor
adaptation strategies for CC on water resources.
DEVELOPMENT OF: FUNCTIONS:
• Land and water • Water allocation
• Surface water and groundwater • Pollution control
• River basin and its adjacent • Monitoring
coastal and marine • Financial management
environment • Flood and drought management
• Upstream and downstream • Information management
interests
• Basin planning
• Stakeholder participation

19. Engaging young heroes in policy
development and planning
“We want to do something about climate change for our families.“ Kiribati workshop,
2011

20. Sufficient evidence to act
• Evidence emerging but clear climate
change will be additional stressor
• Climate change will interact with
other factors including population
growth, inequities in services,
urbanization, disaster exposure, land
use changes, poverty, etc.
• The majority of climate change
impacts are avoidable -- there’s much
we can do!!

21. Thank You
Contact: jlawler@unicef.org
UNICEF: www.unicef.org/eapro