The future of blue is green: Why water must be at the heart of climate action

on
22 March 2024
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  • More emissions than maritime and aviation sectors combined could be saved within the water sector through improving vulnerable communities’ access to clean water, finds new research
  • On World Water Day, WaterAid and partners call for water to be at the heart of climate action and for investment in water to be prioritised as a matter of urgency

By supporting improved access to clean water for the world’s most vulnerable communities, over 1.6 billion tonnes of CO2e could be saved annually within the water sector - equivalent to nearly half the EU’s annual emissions, or more than the maritime and aviation sectors combined - finds new research commissioned by WaterAid.

The water sector is not only at the heart of climate impacts - droughts, floods and weather-related natural disasters - it is also responsible for as much as 10 percent of global greenhouse gas emissions. Millions of people live on the frontlines of climate change, grappling daily with extreme fluctuations of drought and flooding. 

Improved water access and sanitation can help not only improve living standards in these communities, but also support climate mitigation by reducing emissions from the water sector. New research from the University of Colorado Boulder and Castalia Advisors, commissioned by WaterAid’s Resilient Water Accelerator (RWA), the Voluntary Carbon Market Integrity Initiative (VCMI), and HSBC, reveals an achievable pathway towards creating a green, resilient future for global water supplies.

The research looked at where emissions come from within the water sector and found that delivering improvements in coastal blue carbon, wastewater treatment, drinking water treatment, irrigation, as well as energy efficiency more broadly, could improve water security whilst also generating large and necessary carbon credit emission reductions.

Harnessing market mechanisms such as high-integrity voluntary carbon markets (VCMs) can deliver a triple win: emissions reduction, improved water security, and improved access to safe water and sanitation for millions of people.

In practice, this would mean generating carbon credits from projects that deliver carbon savings as well as water benefits, such as, improved drinking water access in developing countries, reduced methane emissions from latrines and centralised wastewater treatment plants or restored coastal environments.

Kate Hughes CBE, Resilient Water Accelerator CEO, called for investment in water to be prioritised as a matter of urgency, saying: 

"Water is at the heart of the climate crisis. The impacts of the climate change are felt through water, whether that be too little or too much. At the same time, emissions from the water sector are bigger than aviation and shipping put together.

"This research identifies a major opportunity to cut carbon emissions whilst also boosting vital water services for millions of people in low- and middle-income countries dealing with the devastating impacts of climate change, delivering a triple win.

"We need to see international partnerships fostering meaningful climate action across society, policy makers, and business to ensure investment from this untapped potential reaches communities on the frontline of the climate crisis."

Lydia Sheldrake, VCMI Director of Policy & Partnerships, said:  

“These findings show the urgency of upgrading global water systems to achieve a low-carbon, just transition. If the world is going to get on track, we need to scale investment in emissions reductions well before 2030. 

"High-integrity voluntary carbon markets provide one part of the solution. Now we need concerted collaboration and ramped up support to countries and communities to implement high-quality projects and mobilize demand, so finance flows to those who need it most.”

To achieve this, collaboration is essential between countries, the water sector and the climate finance community. The Resilient Water Accelerator has been working to deepen access to the Voluntary Carbon Market by building and strengthening efforts to develop robust monitoring and management of water risk and engaging with finance organisations such as African Development Bank, 2030 Water Resources Group and African Finance Corporation. 

This work comes at a critical time with increasing recognition that the climate crisis is a water crisis. 90% of all natural disasters are water-related, whether it be experienced through too little or too much water. From flood defences to drought resistance, the solutions are out there. But more investment and management are needed now to develop robust and reliable water, sanitation and hygiene systems that can withstand any climate. 

Notes to Editors:

For more information, please contact: 
Emma Sutton-Smith [email protected]; Or call WaterAid’s press line on 020 7793 4537, or email [email protected].


1.    The report can be found here. It was commissioned by WaterAid’s Resilient Water Accelerator (RWA) and VCMI in collaboration with Gold Standard, and was conducted by the University of Colorado Boulder and Castalia Advisors.

2.    The Resilient Water Accelerator is a global initiative that brings relevant decision makers, technical experts and investors together to create connections that address water risk, strengthen resilience and attract public and private finance. Our goal is to demonstrate the business case for more and better public and private investment in water-related deals that strengthen resilience for communities on the front lines of the climate crisis. It’s important that these are replicable elsewhere so that millions more can benefit. We are currently operating in Nigeria and Bangladesh and exploring potential work in more countries.

3.    The Voluntary Carbon Markets Integrity Initiative (VCMI) is an international non-profit organization with a mission to enable high-integrity voluntary carbon markets (VCMs) that deliver real and additional benefits to the atmosphere, help protect nature, and accelerate the transition to ambitious, economy-wide climate policies and regulation

4.    Castalia is the trusted advisor of corporations, utilities, governments, international agencies and infrastructure investors around the world. They solve complex, strategic assignments and deliver sustainable, measurable results. The team from Castalia Consultants includes David Ehrhardt, F Javier Manzanares, Tony Clamp, Jane Zhao, Ilan Adler, Joseph Sax, Yulian Fan, and May Tint Tel.

5.    This analysis was undertaken by Evan Thomas, Christina Barstow, Laura MacDonald, John Ecklu, Katie Fankhauser and Alex Johnson at the Mortenson Center in Global Engineering and Resilience at the University of Colorado Boulder, and developed in collaboration with the Sustainable Markets Initiative, WaterAid, HSBC, the Voluntary Carbon Markets Initiative, and Gold Standard, and supported by the Mortenson Center in Global Engineering at the University of Colorado Boulder, the Moore Foundation, and the Autodesk Foundation.

WaterAid is an international not-for-profit determined to make clean water, decent toilets and good hygiene normal for everyone, everywhere within a generation. We work alongside communities in 22 countries to secure these three essentials that transform people’s lives. Since 1981, WaterAid has reached 28 million people with clean water and nearly 29 million people with decent toilets.

 For more information, visit our website wateraid.org/uk, follow us on Twitter @WaterAidUK, @WaterAid or @WaterAidPress, or find us on Facebook, LinkedIn or Instagram.

  • 703 million people in the world – almost one in ten – don’t have clean water close to home.
  • 2.2 billion people in the world – more than one in four – don’t have safe water.
  • Almost 2 billion people in the world – one in four – lack soap and/or water to wash their hands at home, if they have a place at all.   
  • 1.5 billion people in the world – almost one in five – don’t have a decent toilet of their own.
  • 570 million people in the world – 1 in 14 – have a decent toilet but have to share it with people outside their family. This compromises the privacy, dignity and safety of women and girls.
  • Almost 400,000 children under five die every year due to diseases caused by unsafe water, sanitation and hygiene. That's more than 1000 children a day, or almost one child every one and a half minutes.  
  • Investing in safely managed water, sanitation and hygiene services provides up to 21 times more value than it costs.

[1] WHO/UNICEF (2023). Progress on household drinking water, sanitation and hygiene 2000-2022: special focus on gender. Available at: washdata.org/reports/jmp-2023-wash-households-launch (accessed 11 Jul 2023).    

[2] WHO (2023). Burden of disease attributable to unsafe drinking-water, sanitation and hygiene: 2019 update. Available at: who.int/publications/i/item/9789240075610 (accessed 24 Jul 2023).  

[3] WaterAid (2021). Mission-critical: Invest in water, sanitation and hygiene for a healthy and green economic recovery. Available at: washmatters.wateraid.org/publications/mission-critical-invest-water-sanitation-hygiene-healthy-green-recovery (accessed 1 Nov 2023).

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