World Toilet Day 2024: Toilets as a place for peace and climate action

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Today, on World Toilet Day, we recognize toilets not just as an essential part of our daily lives but also as spaces that embody dignity, equality, and peace. This year’s theme, “Toilets: A place for peace,” reminds us of the critical role sanitation plays in fostering harmony—whether by reducing health disparities, mitigating environmental conflicts, or enhancing resilience to climate change. Within our Sanitation and Health team at the Stockholm Environment Institute (SEI), our work has been focusing on the transformative potential of sanitation to contribute to a healthier, more equitable, and sustainable world. This year, two recent media articles have spotlighted some of our work, underscoring how toilets can be a tool for peace by addressing global climate challenges.

Sanitation and climate change: Spotlight in Francetvinfo

In a recent article published by Francetvinfo, journalist Marie-Adélaïde Scigacz explores the significant yet often ignored greenhouse gas emissions from sanitation systems. Highlighting insights from some of our work at SEI, the article underscores that sanitation contributes approximately 1.3% of global greenhouse gas emissions, comparable to the aviation sector.

The piece sheds light on methane and nitrous oxide emissions from sanitation systems, emphasizing how inadequate wastewater management exacerbates climate challenges if not addressed urgently. It also highlights practical solutions we’ve explored, such as biogas recovery and more frequent emptying of septic tanks and pit latrines in rapidly urbanizing regions like Sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia, which offer pathways to both mitigation and resource recovery.

Closer to home, Swedish publication Aktuell Hållbarhet recently featured a discussion on the potential for sanitation to play a pivotal role in methane reduction. Methane, with its 80 times greater warming potential than CO₂ over 20 years, is often described as a “climate emergency brake.” This powerful greenhouse gas has been the focus of a lot of discussions so far during the UN CLimate Conference COP 29 in Baku, including during a press conference by the UNEP-hosted Climate and Clean Air Coalition. So amongst other sectors that also have significant impact on methane emissions, the article, by journalist Pernilla Strid, highlighted the emission reductions that could be harnessed through interventions in sanitation systems. By improving wastewater treatment systems and integrating methane capture technologies, we can align sanitation initiatives with global methane reduction goals, such as those outlined in the Global Methane Pledge.

Sanitation and climate resilience: why World Toilet Day matters

Both articles highlight a key message for World Toilet Day: toilets (and the wider infrastructure systems they are connected to) bring peace by reducing public health disparities and fostering a more equitable world. However, are not just a health intervention — they are a climate intervention too. Tackling the methane emissions linked to sanitation and wastewater management is essential to meeting the Paris Agreement goals. On the other hand, ensuring the resilience of sanitation systems to the impacts of climate change can strengthen their role in upholding public health systems, hence contributing to broader climate resilience. As the global community gathers for COP29, these sanitation-climate linkages are becoming clearer than ever.

Happy World Toilet Day!

Link to the articles: