WaterAid Nigeria calls for urgent government action on water as “first line of defence” against growing threat of climate change
This World Water Day, WaterAid Nigeria is calling for urgent action from the Nigerian government and international community to include safe water and sanitation in their plans for dealing with the impact of climate change.
There are currently about 55 million people in Nigeria - 29% of the population - who don’t even have a basic water pump or covered well close to home, which is making it much harder to cope with the growing impacts of climate change.
WaterAid’s analysis of global water access On the frontline: The state of the world’s water 2020 examines how climate change is making it harder for people in the world’s poorest countries to rely on being able to drink clean water every day, whilst highlighting the currently inadequate amounts of climate finance spent in these countries to help them cope with the impacts of climate change.
Everyone needs water to survive. Ensuring that everyone has a source of safe water they can rely on whatever the weather, is the vital first line of defence against the growing threat of climate change. The most immediate and widespread impacts of climate change are felt through water – extreme droughts, sea level rises, more frequent floods and powerful storms, all of which threaten people’s access to safe water.
WaterAid is calling on Nigeria to include planning for how to provide climate resilient water and sanitation services in its NDC (Nationally Determined Contribution) plans - the document which it is obliged to produce by the Paris Agreement on Climate Change – and its National Adaptation Plans. This sets a baseline from which countries can develop bids to access global climate funding sources.
Nigeria ranks 55th most vulnerable country to climate change – among the top 35% in the world - but only receives USD $1 per person, per year in climate finance. This is for both mitigation – cutting carbon emissions – and adaptation – reducing the impacts of climate change. While developing countries contribute very little to global carbon emissions, they are the least prepared to withstand the effects, with little money allocated towards helping them. The average person in Nigeria accounts annually for emissions of 0.546 metric tonnes of carbon dioxide - compared to the average per capita emission in the United States of 16.5 metric tonnes.
Across the world nearly 800 million people do not have access to clean water close to home, while a staggering two billion people do not have access to a water service that is free from contamination, putting them at risk of waterborne disease and death.
By 2050, the number of people expected to face problems in getting water at least once a month, is expected to swell to five billion globally – over 50% of the world’s population. Access to clean water is uniquely vulnerable as climate change piles more pressure on water sources that are already overstretched due to inadequate infrastructures, poor water management and a lack of government funding.
Key findings:
- Half of all countries get less than USD $5.20 in climate finance per person, per year to help them cope with the climate crisis.
- In Africa, which accounts for less than 4% of global carbon emissions, over two-thirds of countries have less than USD $1 in climate finance per person, per year allocated towards clean water, decent sanitation and hygiene.
- Only 5% of climate finance is spent on helping countries adapt to climate change. Even less is spent in the most vulnerable countries, and less still on vital services like clean water, placing billions of lives at risk.
- Half of countries where more than 10% of people do not have water close to home get less than 84 cents per person, per year in climate finance for water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH) service adaptation.
Evelyn Mere, WaterAid Nigeria Country Director, says:
“No-one can survive without clean water. No-one can thrive if they have to struggle to find it. But right now, our changing climate is making life harder for the world’s poorest people who are already struggling to get clean water.
“WaterAid’s report shows that far too little is spent on helping the most vulnerable people adapt to the impacts of climate change which is putting the health and lives of millions at risk. Governments must recognise the vital role clean water plays in helping their people be more resilient to climate change and work to address this urgent threat now so that future generations can stay safe and healthy.
“Climate change also affects the occurrence of infectious diseases. Climatic conditions affect epidemic diseases, shifting the burden of diseases and increasing health risks for the populace. It is therefore crucial that we tackle climate change so as to mitigate these health risks as well.”
ENDS
Download the report: www.washmatters.wateraid.org/on-the-frontline
Download photos: https://wateraid.assetbank-server.com/assetbank-wateraid/images/assetbox/8e54c57e-f028-4ff1-9be0-b028be458bf6/assetbox.html
For more information, please contact:
WaterAid Nigeria: Oluseyi Abdulmalik, Communications & Media Manager on [email protected] or +234 8034312391
Notes to Editors:
WaterAid
WaterAid is working to make clean water, decent toilets and good hygiene normal for everyone, everywhere within a generation. The international not-for-profit organisation works in 28 countries to change the lives of the poorest and most marginalised people. Since 1981, WaterAid has reached 27 million people with clean water and 27 million people with decent toilets. For more information, visit www.wateraid.org, www.wateraid.org/nigeria; follow @WaterAidNigeria, @WaterAid or @WaterAidPress on Twitter, or visit us on Facebook at www.facebook.com/wateraid, www.facebook.com/wateraidnigeria
Globally:
- 785 million people in the world – one in ten – do not have clean water close to home.
- 2 billion people in the world – almost one in four – do not have a decent toilet of their own.
- Around 310,000 children under five die every year from diarrhoeal diseases caused by poor water and sanitation. That's around 800 children a day, or one child every two minutes.
- Every £1 invested in water and toilets returns an average of £4 in increased productivity.
- Just £15 can provide one person with clean water.
*In Nigeria:
- 116 million people do not have basic sanitation.
- 37.8 million people practice open defecation.
- 55 million people are without clean water.
- 110 million do not have basic hygiene facilities.
- Sub-Saharan Africa ranks lowest in the world for access to improved drinking water and sanitation. This is linked to the region’s under-five mortality rate which is one of the highest in the world.
- Around 60,000 children under the age of five in Nigeria die from diseases caused by the nation’s poor levels of access to water, sanitation and hygiene.
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*The Joint Monitoring Programme for Water Supply and Sanitation 2019
