Page 14 - CIWA Climate Resilience & Mitigation Assessment

CIWA Climate Resilience & mitigation Assessment

The Niger Basin CRIP primarily contains measures for In the Niger Basin, CIWA supported analytical studies on
adaptation and resilience and includes some mitigation resettlement best practices around the Kandadji Dam,
measures as co-benefits, such as in agroforestry and which is being built in Niger. In the Nile River Basin, CIWA
hydropower. Further analysis of the CRIP will be required used its convening role with the NBI to bring Burundi,
since the plan includes 172 priority actions totaling an Rwanda, and Tanzania together around the Rusumo Falls
estimated US$2.27 billion. A first bundle of 50 actions Hydroelectric Project, which is now completed, by
has been mobilized with financing from the African supporting the implementation and mapping of the
Development Bank, while the Niger Basin Authority is resettlement plan. Further, CIWA conducted pre-feasibility
seeking financing for the remaining 122 actions. studies and provided support for resource mobilization and
stakeholder engagement in the preparation of the Nsongezi
Transboundary Water Pathways for Dam project in Uganda and Tanzania.
Improved Climate Mitigation
If fully and properly harnessed, hydropower can easily
close the electricity access gap and meet Africa’s Box 1: Fomi Dam Multipurpose
climate mitigation goals. At the crossroads of water Hydropower project (Niger River Basin)
and energy, hydropower is well positioned to help the
continent toward its goal of achieving universal access The choice of location of the planned Fomi Dam
to electricity, adapting to climate change, and mitigating exemplifies the balancing act between positive
its effects. Per capita electricity consumption remains and negative social and environmental impacts
much lower in Africa than the global average, with 43 of large hydropower projects. The Fomi Dam was
percent of the continent’s population lacking access to one of three priority infrastructure investment
projects designated by Niger Basin Authority
electricity. Africa’s hydropower potential remains largely (NBA) member states in their 2007 Shared Vision
untapped.²⁶ However, the overexploitation of rivers and Sustainable Development Action Plan. The
would also be detrimental to regional water security, rural population of the Niger River Basin is
biodiversity, and socioeconomic development. particularly vulnerable to food and water
Hydropower presents both positive and negative insecurity and conflicts. In this context, multi-
socioeconomic and environmental externalities, which purpose dams can improve energy security while
should be carefully balanced. also improving water storage for irrigation and
consumption and mitigating flood and drought
Operations support mitigation efforts if, compared to a risk. On the other hand, hydropower projects can
baseline situation or other counterfactual, the activities spur regional and transboundary risks through
lead to a reduction, limitation, or storage of GHG river fragmentation and disruption of natural water
flows. Riverbanks are often inhabited and heavily
emissions or increase their removal from the atmosphere. used for livelihoods, and the areas flooded by
Interventions in sanitation (capturing GHGs generated by human-made reservoirs often lead to population
treatment and replacing fossil fuel energy supply with clean displacements and loss of agricultural land.
sources), water supply, irrigation (replacing fossil fuel energy
supply with clean sources), and hydroelectricity have great As part of its engagement with the NBA, CIWA
potential for achieving GHG emissions reductions. CIWA’s supported technical capacity building of the
climate mitigation efforts have mostly been delivered by organization, regional dialogue, and technical
influencing hydropower infrastructure investments. CIWA’s studies for the preparation of potential
footprint in the other subsectors is small but examples hydropower projects. This included feasibility
include influencing solar-powered groundwater investments studies and an environmental and social impact
in the Horn of Africa (HoA) borderlands and SADC region and assessment (completed in December 2017) to
evaluate whether the proposed site for the Fomi
identifying investments for solar-powered irrigation Dam was suitable for investment. An ESIA can
schemes. While the actions are important for communities contribute to a project’s impacts related to
and countries, the actual GHG mitigation influenced by these climate mitigation and resilience in multiple ways
CIWA operations is marginal compared to the net reduction by helping identify and quantify potential GHG
from hydropower. emissions associated with a project and
providing information to design mitigation
CIWA supported studies and other analytical work strategies. An ESIA can recommend mitigation
that informed the identification and preparation of measures to reduce a project's negative
hydropower investments. For example, in the Niger environmental impact, such as by proposing
River Basin, technical water and safeguard information cleaner technologies or improving energy
provided by CIWA influenced member states in efficiency. The Potential Adverse Impacts
assessment identifies ways in which the project
choosing an alternative site for the Fomi Dam (see Box can minimize negative impacts on biodiversity
1). In the Luapula River Basin, CIWA supported analytical and ecosystems, hydrology, water quality, soil
and advisory work on the legal and institutional erosion, microclimate modification, and other
framework, which informed the development of issues, which all have the potential to reduce
potential hydropower investments in Zambia and the people’s and the environment’s climate
Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC). CIWA- resilience. The Niger Basin Support Program
facilitated studies and negotiations influenced two delivered a study on advanced modeling of
major investments in the Upper Zambezi River: the ecosystem services in the Niger Inner Delta to
Kariba Dam Rehabilitation Project, which is being inform upstream development and investment
implemented by the Zambezi River Authority with World choices, including the potential impact on flow
Bank financing, and the Batoka Gorge Hydroelectric regimes of different operational conditions of
new dams.
Scheme (HES), a proposed dam at the border of Zambia
and Zimbabwe upstream of Kariba.

12 ²⁶ IHA, 2024. Region Profiles Africa https://www.hydropower.org/region-profiles/africa