Increasing climate finance for sustainable water and sanitation services

In this new policy brief, Louise Whiting, Senior Policy Analyst for Water Security and Climate Change, outlines the urgent policy changes needed to ensure that climate finance is used catalytically, effectively and for the benefit of highly vulnerable populations living without access to water and sanitation.

Climate variability and weather extremes, such as droughts, floods and cyclones, already pose considerable risks to the delivery of sustainable water and sanitation services. 

Such extreme weather events have a wider and more acute impact in the absence of robust water and sanitation services. 

Climate change is increasing these risks, as well as introducing new water-related challenges as sea levels rise, glaciers melt, and vector and waterborne diseases spread. 

In short, climate change is water change and, in an increasingly volatile and water insecure world, climate-vulnerable communities require access to water and sanitation if they are to survive and thrive in the face of change.

This new policy brief covers the policy shifts required to ensure that growing climate finance plays a role in driving the stepwise change in sector performance that is needed to increase community resilience and achieve universal access to water and sanitation by 2030. It is designed for water and climate practitioners operating at local, national and global levels, and is part of the WaterAid Climate Finance Initiative.