Page 6 - CIWA Climate Resilience & Mitigation Assessment

CIWA Climate Resilience & mitigation Assessment

Executive Summary

Since its inception, the Cooperation in International Waters CIWA has influenced the design of additional potential
in Africa (CIWA) Trust Fund has brought climate change investments that would lead to GHG mitigation
and resilience considerations to the forefront of its work. (through hydropower, solar-powered pumps, and
CIWA is well aligned with the World Bank’s Climate Change watershed management) when they are eventually
Action Plan 2021-2025 and Action Plan on Adaptation and realized, including potential investments from Nile,
Resilience, which prioritize mainstreaming climate change Niger, Cubango-Okavango River Basin operations.
actions and addressing climate change resiliency.
Cooperative transboundary water resources management The most prevalent climate resilience actions supported
is imperative for a peaceful and climate-resilient planet by CIWA operations relate to (i) promotion of regional
and people. cooperation on flood risk reduction, (ii) provision of water
resources management (WRM) training and expertise to
For this assessment, CIWA conducted a stocktaking of its river basin organizations (RBOs) to improve the climate
operations and their influence on climate mitigation and resilience of water systems, and (iii) support for the
resilience outcomes, identified CIWA’s comparative supply side of water management by expanding
advantage, highlighted its niche, and determined if there are supplies, reducing water losses, and/or improving
missed opportunities for future consideration. This report cooperation on shared water resources.
summarizes CIWA’s impact and cumulative results to date
for climate mitigation and resilience. CIWA also contributes to climate resilience through
influencing investments in flood protection, water quality,
The stocktaking shows that CIWA has significantly and water supply. Sanitation, including wastewater
contributed to enhancing climate change resilience and management and wastewater collection, transportation,
mitigation in transboundary water resource management treatment, and disposal is the least represented water
and development in most, if not all, basins and regions where sub-sector in CIWA’s portfolio, with only one occurrence,
it works in Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA). Climate resilience has which was to be expected considering that CIWA
been a core objective of many of its strategies and projects. focuses on water resources management.
CIWA facilitated regional climate change scenario planning
and included climate risk assessments in the planning and CIWA has contributed to i) influencing investments that
development of water infrastructure. CIWA also supported are now delivering a significant fraction of SSA’s
studies and projects that target water sectors with high hydroelectric power, ii) delivering core information and
vulnerability or adaptation potential such as groundwater, institutional inputs that are requisite for climate change
flood and drought management, and agricultural water use. adaptation and resilience, and iii) expanding its portfolio
Through collaboration with the World Bank’s Environment to previously lightly-touched sectors that are linked to
and other Global Practices and international NGOs, CIWA climate resilience and mitigation such as water quality;
connects climate change to other regional and global dam safety; nature-based storage solutions;
challenges such as gender equity, poverty reduction, groundwater management and sustainable use; and
biodiversity, migration, and fragility in its work. biodiversity, ecosystem services, and conservation.
These sectors are critical for resilience to extreme
The stocktaking and analysis found these key results: weather but have only minor mitigation benefits that are
not linked to the energy sector (e.g., through watershed
The predominant mechanism that CIWA contributes to management). CIWA’s active and pipeline projects
climate change mitigation is through its influence on six include multipurpose dams, and future mitigation
major hydropower investments: four mobilized and two investments will likely focus on smaller investments
potential. Mobilized hydropower investments resulted in such as in carbon sequestration through climate-smart
greenhouse gas (GHG) mitigation of 23,770 watershed management and rehabilitation plans, solar-
ktCO₂eq/year and average production of 25,000 GWh pumped groundwater investments, and wetlands and
additional energy per year. The four mobilized biodiversity protection. CIWA’s current portfolio
hydroelectric dams provide seven percent of Africa’s embraces its strong track record of climate resilience
power.¹ If or when implemented, the two potential through improving regional water resource management
hydropower dams (Luapula and Batoka) will add an and planning while leaning into the trajectory on
additional 14,092 GWh of electricity with 14,029 increased flood and drought risk management, dam
ktCO₂eq/year of GHG emissions savings. safety, and water quality actions.

On a much smaller scale, multiple CIWA operations also
contribute to GHG mitigation through implementation of
solar-powered pumps for groundwater use.

04 ¹ Total electricity produced in Africa is148,422 GWh (IEA 2022)