Cop-27 and Concluding Remarks

Hi for the final time! My last post will focus on discussions on water and sanitation at Cop-27 in Sharm El-Sheikh, Egypt. Unfortunately, last year’s Cop-26 in Glasgow has been argued as underwhelming with too little action (Meredith, 2021). As a result, the priorities for Cop-27 included discussing WASH across Africa, emphasising education as well as integrating women into participatory processes (WaterAid, 2022).

A notable outcome of Cop-27 is the collaboration between the World Meteorological Organisation (WMO) and the new initiative AWARe (Action on Water Adaptation or Resilience). This focuses on promoting cooperative processes between WASH and climate action in order to achieve SDG6 such as sustainable wastewater management and strengthening sanitation education, policy and strategy (KnowESG, 2022; WMO, 2022). Furthermore, women in WASH were framed as the drivers of climate solutions. Women have been recognised as key to WASH responsibilities whilst bearing the negative implications of sexual and domestic violence. As a result, the launch of the AWARe initiative pushes for WASH solutions for vulnerable communities across Africa, specifically promoting cooperation and including women in negotiations (UN, 2022).

Despite these noteworthy outcomes, the conference was largely a failure due to 4 reasons (Maslin et al. 2022). Firstly, Cop-27 discussions on renewable energy was overshadowed by high energy prices and the cost-of-living crisis as a result of Russia’s war against Ukraine. Secondly, the timing of Cop-27 was undermined by other global events which meant media attention was diverted and some world leaders were absent. Finally, Cop-27 saw a lack of leadership to build consensus and the failure to trust climate promises. There are lessons to be learnt for Cop-28 which should facilitate transparent negotiations and build trust, cooperation and actually deliver on climate promises (Maslin et al. 2022). The future of WASH and achieving SDG6 across Africa is not impossible but it requires more attention and directed assistance.

To close, I’d like to express my enjoyment in writing this blog and I hope that you feel these posts have both informed you on water and sanitation issues across Africa as well as piqued your interest to further engage with the subject. Thank you for reading, and goodbye!

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