Evidence generation on sanitation GHG emissions and monitoring progress on sanitation systems strengthening
University of Bristol and ECOPSIS have partnered on a project to support UNICEF in accelerating progress towards safely managed sanitation and strengthening the understanding on the contribution to greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. This work is being carried out through three components:
Component 1 Evidence generation on the importance of sanitation to GHG emissions
Greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions are the main drivers of climate change, with the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) calling for priority action on methane. For the WASH sector, there is the pressing need to reduce GHG emissions from onsite sanitation, which harbour moist, anaerobic, high nutrient environments, and produce significant amounts of GHG emissions. Understanding the quantity of GHG emissions from onsite sanitation systems, and how these may vary with alternative design and management strategies, is important in light of the growing number of systems being installed in low and middle-income countries (LMICs). This UNICEF-funded study presents the opportunity to provide improved estimates of GHG emissions associated with the sanitation chain with a primary focus on onsite sanitation but taking into account the full faecal sludge management chain.
We are using the approach previously tested in the SCARE project and working with local partners in Mozambique and Nigeria to promote understanding of:
- direct GHG emissions from faecal sludge or wastewater
- operational emissions associated with the management of faecal sludge or wastewater and,
- embedded carbon entrained in infrastructure
The evidence is expected to enable governmental and funding agencies make better decisions on investment, design, and management of sanitation, including to make informed technology and management choices to help reduce GHG emissions.
Component 2 Baseline assessment of UNICEF’s Sanitation Game Plan
UNICEF’s Game Plan to Reach safely managed sanitation (2022-2030) is designed to address the global sanitation challenge via five pillars of interventions, that go beyond service delivery. These pillars are: i) governance and policy; ii) capacity development; iii) financing; iv) Innovation; and v) data and information/monitoring. The Game Plan articulates how UNICEF will implement these interventions to progress towards universal safely managed sanitation.
The objective of this component is to capture UNICEF’s current status on sanitation systems strengthening and determine the extent to which countries with WASH programmes carried out systems strengthening in 2022. We are analysing data reported by countries on Core Standard Indicators (CSIs) and activities to identify trends in system strengthening activities and gaps in monitoring. We will also develop case studies highlighting strong initiatives from UNICEF country offices on strengthening the Game Plan pillars, as a learning opportunity for other country offices.
Component 3 Developing a monitoring framework on sanitation systems strengthening
In the final component, we are drafting a framework to allow UNICEF country offices to monitor sanitation systems strengthening, initially in 5 east and west African countries – Nigeria, Kenya, Ghana, Sierra Leone and Zambia. These countries have received funding from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation to develop and strengthen sanitation systems and accelerate progress towards safely managed sanitation.
The framework will build on the interventions recommended in the UNICEF Sanitation Game Plan and align with other WASH systems strengthening frameworks used globally. The framework will have indicators for each of the five Game Plan pillars. The framework will be structured so that each indicator can be scored from ‘non-existent’ to ‘robust/strengthened’ allowing countries to track incremental progress.
In keeping with the principles of the Game Plan, the framework will include indicators along the entire sanitations service chain, cover urban and rural settings, and consider services for vulnerable communities and heard to reach areas.