Shit matters: compounding risks and uncertainties in urban wastescapes under climate change

Keywords: sanitation, climate change, off-grid, urban, compounding risks
Abstract Type: Paper Abstract

Abstract

Universal water and sanitation provision, based on the model of centralised infrastructure, have often neglected off-grid towns, peri-urban areas and informal settlements, where inappropriately designed toilets along with poor (or non-existent) sewerage networks abound. These can lead to considerable risks to human health through unhygienic environments and contamination. These problems are likely to be compounded in the context of increased climate variability as climate shocks and stressors intersect with the uneven geographies of wastescapes. In rapidly urbanising areas, the impacts of climate-driven hazards are further exacerbated by unplanned, informal development and poor provision of services that magnify vulnerabilities and limit adaptive capacity. Drawing on evidence from three small towns in Asia and Africa, we show how high climate variability such as increases in the frequency and intensity of climate extremes (droughts, floods, and heatwaves) magnify structural inequities. In particular, we examine the various actors, power hierarchies and relationships that get entangled as the sanitation and climate ‘crises’ overlap, including the diverse modes through which households and communities are rendered off-grid. In doing so, we deconstruct the notion of ‘climate resilient infrastructure’ which is predominantly driven by technical infrastructure or ‘hard adaptation’ measures and argue for a need to focus on ‘soft’ infrastructures that increase adaptive capacity to climate impacts. This also means that we must consider this sector an important pivot for mitigation and adaptation actions.