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Sanitation and Climate Change PRECOP 26 Webinar held as a part of World Water Forum 2O22

As part of its climate change strategy, Senegal has prioritized inventories on its national communications under the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC). The contribution of the waste sector including solid and liquid waste was assessed through a broad consultation process with stakeholders. According to the NDC assessment, the waste sector contributes 11.21% of national emissions. This assessment where only networked sanitation emissions are included, does not sufficiently reflect sanitation conditions & services in Senegal since 87,5% of the population is not connected to the sanitation network and using on-site systems septic tanks and latrines.

Considering the need to increase the frequency and accuracy of inventories, in a 2020 report on emissions and adaptation measures for sanitation in Senegal  GGGI sought to include suitable methodologies that take into account existing sanitation systems that consist predominantly of on-site facilities.

On the road to the Dakar 2022 Word Water Forum, GGGI signed a partnership agreement with the executive secretariat under Initiative Dakar 2022 labeled projects. From a validated actions plan framing preliminary works related to the event, project committee members have decided to hold side events with the objective to prepare thematics intended to be provided as responses for the sanitation sub-sector. The Pre-COP 26 hybrid webinar was held in this context.

The objective of the hybrid webinar was to bring key stakeholders together to discuss this water-related component and the challenges to achieve SDG6.2. The objective was to feature the links between sanitation and climate change.

In conjunction also with the upcoming COP26, whose focus is to support countries on their ecosystem’s restoration and protection, infrastructures development, resilient agriculture, and help raise funds for the aforementioned, the objective of this pre-COP 26 event is to emphasize the needs and opportunities in developing resilient on-site sanitation systems with low carbon emissions as part of the solution.

The Pre-COP 26 event chaired by the Ministry of Water and Sanitation in partnership with the UK Embassy in Dakar registered the presence of H.E. Ms. Victoria Billing, Ambassador, Executive Secretary of the World Water Forum Abdoulaye Sene, and GGGI Country Representative Romain Brillie. They addressed official communications with regards to the upcoming major event DAKAR 2022 and the Glasgow COP 26 and the imperative to join agendas as one and work to provide responses on the direction to better resilient infrastructures, to improve the management of the services, and to assess GHG emissions gather from sanitation.

Thematics sessions were organized half-day hybrid sessions with both presential and virtual assistance of specialized organizations and institutions involved in designing policy approaches, implementing, and development partners.  Two virtual sessions will be held, the first in French and the second in English.

Sanitation facilities resilience to climate change: a need to improve the management of services (French session): The SCARE project presented by Nathalie Andre, Sanitation Specialist for GGGI, and a panel discussion was held around the contribution of the sector on the national strategy at different level including the Oumar Sene the Sanitation Director, representing the government on the policy side, Libasse Ba, the National Committee for Climate Change President and from the private sector Dr. Becaye Diop from DELVIC solutions.

Sanitation & Climate Change: Assessing resilience and mitigation of on-site systems (English session)

An online contribution from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation highlighted  the experience with the University of Leeds on the CACTUS the research project measuring GHG emissions from sanitation in the city of Kampala that has led to SCARE and together are contributing to demonstrate the link between sanitation and climate change. The sessions also included the universities  of Bristol, Leeds and Thies part of the SCARE consortium   describing the project and also illustrating the  mitigation and adaptation  links to sanitation.

Development partners GCF and UNICEF intervened in addition to the panel and some great points were shared on the contribution the research on the climate and sanitation links can be  promoted to support countries to address adaptation and mitigation.