Shaping the water sector to be more climate resilient

The report highlights that the water and sanitation sector contributes up to 5% of global greenhouse gas emissions and is highly vulnerable to climate impacts. It advocates for a shift from single-issue, siloed approaches toward integrated, local, and cross-sectoral collaborations to achieve Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) 6 and 13. Through case studies in Peru, Uganda, Germany, and Bolivia, the document demonstrates how regulatory frameworks, peer-to-peer partnerships (WOPs), and systems-thinking can reduce carbon footprints and build resilience. It concludes that while collaboration is essential, it must be implemented proportionately to avoid operational inefficiency.

• Sanitation is largely overlooked in national climate commitments; only 2% of SDG 6-related Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) address sanitation access, and only 3% mention wastewater management and water reuse.
• In Peru, the integration of climate change mitigation and adaptation plans (PMACCs) into the national legal framework has enabled utilities to reduce emissions, such as SEDACUSCO avoiding nearly 7,500 tons of CO2 annually through improved sludge management.
• Water Operator Partnerships (WOPs) utilize a peer-to-peer exchange model to improve operational performance and energy efficiency, as seen in the collaboration between the Dutch organization VEI and Uganda's National Water and Sewerage Corporation (NWSC).
• Hamburg Wasser demonstrates the value of a cross-sectoral approach to urban infrastructure, integrating water services with energy supply, mobility, and climate adaptation to meet a city-state target of reducing carbon emissions by 55% by 2030.
• The Bolivia WATCH programme emphasizes that integrating Water Resources Management (WRM) with WASH services at the watershed level is vital for building climate resilience and managing trade-offs between different SDG 6 targets.
• The Sustainable Services Initiative (SSI) employs a systems-strengthening approach that analyzes nine functional 'building blocks' of WASH systems to ensure long-term sustainability, benefiting over 1 million people across Uganda, Nepal, Ethiopia, Malawi, and Kenya.

APA

van Straaten, L., Reckerzügl, T., Verheij, A., Wiebe, C., Andersson, K., & Rüd, S. (2021). Shaping the water sector to be more climate resilient. Stockholm Environment Institute. https://www.sei.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/03/shaping-the-water-sector-to-be-more-climate-resilient-sei-giz-vei-vca-exp-c-susana.pdf

Chicago

van Straaten, Leonardo, Thorsten Reckerzügl, Anke Verheij, Christian Wiebe, Kim Andersson, and Sören Rüd. Shaping the water sector to be more climate resilient. Stockholm Environment Institute, 2021. https://www.sei.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/03/shaping-the-water-sector-to-be-more-climate-resilient-sei-giz-vei-vca-exp-c-susana.pdf.

Wikipedia

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BibTeX

@techreport{vanstraaten2021shaping, author = {van Straaten, Leonardo and Reckerzügl, Thorsten and Verheij, Anke and Wiebe, Christian and Andersson, Kim and Rüd, Sören}, title = {{Shaping the water sector to be more climate resilient}}, institution = {Stockholm Environment Institute}, year = {2021}, month = mar, url = {https://www.sei.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/03/shaping-the-water-sector-to-be-more-climate-resilient-sei-giz-vei-vca-exp-c-susana.pdf}, urldate = {2026-10-23}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }