Bhubaneswar: Experts and stakeholders at a high-level Pre-COP Dialogue today called for urgent, scaled-up investments and collective action to safeguard Odisha’s Water, Sanitation, and Hygiene (WASH) infrastructure against intensifying climate impacts.
This event which is organised by the Odisha Development Innovation Alliance (ODeIA), Jeevan Rekha Parishad (JRP), and UNICEF Odisha Office just ahead of the UN Climate Change Conference (COP 30) in Belém, Brazil, next month, highlighted that while the Government of Odisha has prioritized disaster-resilient infrastructure in its Vision 2036 plan, a new approach to planning and financing is immediately required.
William Hanlon Jr., Chief of Field Office, UNICEF Odisha, set a tone of urgency, calling on global leaders to act: “As we approach the 30th UN Climate Change Conference, expectations must meet urgency: three decades of talks have not protected many communities from worsening climate impacts. COP30 must be intergenerational driven by youth and focused on practical climate resilience and adaptation. WASH is central to that work.”
Addressing the need for better governance, Ms. Shipra Saxena, UNICEF’s WASH and Climate Specialist, underscored the necessity of improved inter-departmental coordination, data sharing, and synchronized planning. She noted that flagship programs like the Jal Jeevan Mission (JJM) and BASUDHA scheme offer significant potential to embed climate resilience at scale.
Prof. Anil Kumar Gupta, IIT Roorkee, emphasized that climate risk-informed WASH sector planning is essential to address underlying social inequities. To finance this shift, the dialogue identified innovative financial mechanisms like blended finance and municipal green or blue bonds as key opportunities, coupled with building capacity at the urban and rural governance levels (ULBs and GPs).
The Pre-COP Dialogue concluded with a key recommendation, such as the formation of a multi-stakeholder platform to sustain policy discussions, provide expert input, and ensure Odisha’s WASH adaptation efforts align with the Global Goal on Adaptation (GGA) under the Paris Agreement.
