Climate action means making people in vulnerable situations more resilient

This policy brief emphasises the disproportionate impact of climate change on vulnerable groups and highlights the need for effective remedies and resilience-building measures. It suggests that restoring the functioning of aquatic ecosystems and addressing socio-economic inequalities are key to reducing the risks and impact of climate change on drinking water, and that other drivers like urbanisation, pollution, and social inequalities may pose bigger threats to water resources and services than climate change in the short to medium term. The policy brief also suggests a number of concrete measures for water and sanitation interventions, including identifying and prioritising vulnerable groups, mainstreaming vulnerability approaches in policies and implementation, building capacities of communities and local governments to adapt to climate change, and advocating for basic services for people in vulnerable situations. It includes short case studies from Burkina Faso, Bangladesh and Uganda.

This is one of four policy briefs that highlight challenges, good practices and dilemmas and provide examples to inspire climate action in the WASH sector. They support policymakers and practitioners to promote ways to mitigate and adapt to climate change while strengthening efforts to fulfil the human right to safe drinking water and sanitation. The policy briefs are based on the experiences of Dutch funded climate change adaptation and mitigation initiatives in the sectors and discussions with actors looking for ways to integrate climate action with activities to strengthen water and sanitation services for people in vulnerable situations. The other three are on: climate change mitigation; climate change adaptation; and climate change and finance.