Climate change affects sanitation in two directions. Floods and droughts damage sanitation systems and spread untreated waste, while sanitation itself produces greenhouse gases. One global analysis estimated that non-sewered sanitation, such as pit latrines and septic tanks, accounted for about 4.7% of global anthropogenic methane emissions in 2020, comparable to emissions from wastewater treatment plants [1]. A whole-system study in Kampala estimated that sanitation produces about 189 kilotonnes of CO₂-equivalent a year, possibly more than half of the city's total emissions, with long storage of fecal waste in sealed tanks and uncollected methane at treatment plants as the largest sources.
In Paikgacha, Bangladesh, every floodwater sample tested contained E. coli, and exposure through street food and open drains was highest during the monsoon. In Tanga, rainfall, flooding, household density, and high user loads increased sanitation risks. In Lusaka, flooding and solid-waste blockages turned open drains into collection points for blackwater, greywater, septic effluent, and dumped fecal sludge. In Senegal, recurrent flooding and water shortages in peri-urban healthcare facilities informed a climate-responsive, gender-sensitive WASH improvement plan co-owned by the Ministry of Health and Public Hygiene and the Ministry of Hydraulics and Sanitation. In Bangladesh, PROMISE evidence is supporting WaterAid's WASH planning in Khulna District.
Assessing the impacts of flooding and extreme weather on sanitation infrastructure and fecal contamination, comparing how different sanitation technologies hold up under climate stress, mapping vulnerability hotspots in urban and peri-urban settings, and advancing lower-emission, circular sanitation approaches.
A multi-country initiative advancing sanitation, hygiene, climate resilience, health security, digital decision systems, and healthy institutions in low- and middle-income countries
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