International Non-Governmental Organisation (NGO), WaterAid has called on world leaders to redeem their $100 billion dollars climate finance pledge before 2023.
It said this had become imperative because women in developing countries will miss out on 2.5million working days globally due to a lack of nearby basic water services.
Ms Evelyn Mere, the Country Director of WaterAid, made the call in a statement issued by its Media Manager, Mrs. Oluseyi Abdul Malik, in Abuja , on Friday.
“ With the 12 days of the 26th UN Climate Change Conference of the Parties (COP 26) underway, estimates have shown the urgent need for action, because the lack of basic water means communities on the front line of climate change are already struggling with overlapping crises and it’s costing lives”, Mere said.
The organisation noted that with women and girls usually responsible for collecting water, the lack of these services means they often have to walk for hours to get clean water, leaving them no time to work and no capacity to respond to climate impacts.
“A woman responsible for water collection will spend 60 hours, or 20 per cent of COP26, collecting water for her family of four to drink, cook and wash with.
“No fewer than 2,880 lives of children under five could be saved from diarrhoea deaths if everyone, everywhere, had access to clean water,” she said.
According to the statement, these impacts can themselves hamper access further as water sources become less reliable or flooded and polluted, and journeys get longer.
“Last week, rich nations published a Climate Finance delivery plan, confirming they won’t deliver on their long-promised target of $100 billion dollars each year, to support poorer countries battling the impacts of the climate crisis.
“The target is expected to be met by 2023, three years later than promised,” it said.
However, WaterAid warned that many people can’t wait that long, as frequent flooding and longer droughts were becoming a matter of life or death for many vulnerable people on the front lines of the climate crisis.
“Climate change is likely to exacerbate these impacts for millions of people already living without clean water, decent toilets or good sanitation ”it stated.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) recalled that in 2009, richer nations, including the UK, committed to supporting poorer nations to protect themselves against the effects of climate change by providing $100billion dollars by 2020.
Only 80 per cent of this money has so far been delivered, according to the latest data. (NAN)
