Download Climate Change in the Local Development Agenda

CLIMATE CHANGE IN THE LOCAL DEVELOPMENT AGENDA:
PROMOTING RESILIENCE THROUGH ENHANCED
UNDERSTANDING OF EARLY THREATS
Serageldin, Mona
Vice President
[email protected]
Guerra, Erick
Research Associate
[email protected]
Lee-Chuvala, Christa
Research Associate
[email protected]
Institute for International
Urban Development
Summary:
Experts have named Alexandria, Egypt and Cotonou, Benin as two cities facing high risks due to
the impacts of climate change. City authorities are taking actions to build resilience to the most
pressing threats, but they must also employ their limited resources to address economic
development, employment generation and service provision. Strategies to address climate
change must therefore be linked to immediate threats and politically and economically important
issues. In both cities, land management policies and plans must focus on directing further urban
expansion away from the most vulnerable, low-lying areas. Moreover, regional development
strategies and action plans are needed to address impacts that spill over jurisdictional boundaries
and promote coordination.
Key Words: Climate change, resilience, Alexandria, Cotonou, land management
Climate Change in the Local Development Agenda
Fifth Urban Research Symposium 2009
CLIMATE CHANGE IN THE LOCAL DEVELOPMENT AGENDA:
PROMOTING RESILIENCE THROUGH ENHANCED
UNDERSTANDING OF EARLY THREATS
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
We wish to thank His Excellency Adel Labib, Governor of Alexandria and His Excellency
President Nicephore Soglo, Mayor of Cotonou, for taking the time to discuss these issues with
us.
We are also grateful for the documentation on Alexandria provided to us by the Biblioteca
Alexandrina and wish to particularly acknowledge the assistance provided by Dr. Ismail
Serageldin, Dr. Mohamed Awad and Dr. Khaled Azab.
I.
INTRODUCTION
While the early impacts of climate change are already documented at the global scale, the local
impacts are more difficult to define. Yet it is the city authorities that have to address these
impacts. Their ability to respond is constrained by four factors:
1. Accurate local measurements are not readily available. Remote sensing and field
observation stations and GIS systems are needed to develop the solid data on which city
authorities can rely to build resilience.
2. Lack of the financial and technical resources needed to respond to the complex character
of impacts and their more insidious manifestations.
3. Conflicting scenarios generated by different agencies and experts confuse city officials
and make it difficult to make a convincing case for taking mitigating action.
4. Action of higher authorities or the activities of other actors elsewhere outside the
jurisdictional boundaries of the locality that aggravate local impacts.
Cities in the developing world, and in particular the major ports, are drivers of economic growth
and industrial development. Linear settlement patterns and concentrations of heavy industries
have forced them to address issues of pollution, traffic congestion, overextended infrastructure
networks and underserviced informal settlements.
This paper discusses the responses of city authorities to the current and future threats posed by
climate change in Alexandria, Egypt and Cotonou, Benin, two port cities facing increasing
shoreline erosion, saltwater intrusion and flooding of low-lying areas. Each city has taken some
actions to address these challenges but neither has yet developed an overall strategy to build
resilience to climate change.
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II.
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ALEXANDRIA, EGYPT
1. Climate Change Scenarios for Alexandria
Egypt is considered one of the countries most vulnerable to the impacts of climate change
because of the concentration of population and economic activity in the Nile Valley and
particularly in the Delta. Since the late 1980s experts have predicted varying degrees of flooding
and damage depending on the scenario they considered to be the most probable. The
Government early on joined global efforts to mitigate the impacts of climate change.
Committees were set up to address threats to the coastal areas.
Alexandria is considered the most vulnerable city in Egypt. It is Egypt’s second largest city with
a population of over four million. It concentrates 40 percent of the country’s manufacturing and
50 percent of its refining capacity. The Port Authority, which controls extensive waterfront land,
has an ambitious expansion plan. It is expanding the port facilities westward with the addition of
several wharfs, warehouses, a free zone and a new cruise ship terminal to accommodate the ever
larger cruise vessels. New port facilities and activities are bound to affect the coastline and the
ecology along the coast. However, the Port’s expansion and its improved efficiency and capacity
are a national priority that will take precedence over the problems it creates for coastal
management and the marine ecology.
About 40 percent of Alexandria’s population lives in informal settlements in two distinct areas:
the urban districts along the north and western shores of Lake Mariout and the Apis rural area to
the south and west of the Lake where 18 villages are rapidly urbanizing through unauthorized
conversion of agricultural land to urban use.
The most widely quoted scenario regarding the impact of climate change on the city is that of Dr.
Mohamed El-Raey of the University of Alexandria. Developed in the mid 1990s, his estimates
of impact were based on topography and areas flooded under assumptions of sea level rise
ranging from 0.25 to 1.0 meters (El-Raey, 1997, 1999).
Few experts are convinced by the Raey team’s scenarios. Dr. Omran Frihy of the Coastal
Research Institute points out that the Old City is built on higher ground and that parts of
Alexandria Governorate are actually experiencing tectonic uplift of about three millimeters per
year, so far balancing the rate of sea level rise of three to four millimeters per year (Frihy, 2003).
2. Observed Impacts of Climate Change in Alexandria
Mona Serageldin met with the Governor of Alexandria, Mr. Adel Labib, to discuss the
Governorate’s concerns and action on climate change. He gave generously of his time. He
stated that his primary concern was beach erosion which has been increasing in severity. He was
also concerned about rising water levels in Lake Mariout. The Governor had already formed a
special committee on climate change grouping experts in marine sciences, water resources,
hydraulics, coastal zone management, remote sensing, and industry and trade to advise him on
the impacts of climate change on Alexandria. He decided to convene the committee so that we
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could have an in-depth discussion of the issues. Dr. Ismail Serageldin and Dr. Mohamed Awad
from the Biblioteca Alexandrina attended the meeting.
The first issue raised was how to obtain reliable data to determine local impacts and develop
realistic local scenarios. The Agriculture Ministry has seven observation stations along the
North Delta Coast but they were not set up for the purpose of monitoring the impacts of climate
change and some of the experts felt that the measurements they provided were unsuitable for this
purpose. The three tide gauges at Alexandria, Borollos and Port Said measure the relative sea
level, i.e. they sum the global sea rise and changes in elevation of the land with reference to the
mean sea level, which makes it difficult to assess the impact of absolute changes in sea rise.
The Governor enjoined the committee to make the best use of current data and start developing
short-term mitigation measures. They should also make concrete proposals regarding the data
needed and how to obtain it. Longer-term adaptation strategies would be based on this new data
and the actions already adopted could be revised as new data becomes available.
Focusing on the observed impacts in Alexandria, the consensus opinion can be summarized in
the following five points:
2.1
Alexandria City Proper
Figure No. 1: The Corniche along Alexandria’s coastline, near the Library of Alexandria
Source: Courtesy of Biblioteca Alexandrina
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Alexandria city proper is built on higher ground and is not vulnerable to flooding from sea level
rise. Furthermore, the Corniche, due to its elevation ranging from 2.4 meters to 12.3 meters
above sea level provides an effective protective barrier against projected global sea rise. The
Mediterranean is too constrained, its coast is too ragged and its surface too cut up by Italy,
Greece and the Aegean islands to allow violent storms with huge swells to build up.
Nevertheless Alexandria can expect to be battered by high waves and water surges during
storms. Such waves crash over parts of the Corniche and can temporarily flood abutting uses.
2.2
Lake Mariout
Lake Mariout to the south of the city has been an integral part of Alexandria’s landscape and
shaped its linear expansion. Once a body of fresh water, Lake Mariout was essential to Egypt’s
internal transport system as it linked the Mediterranean Sea to the southern part of the Nile
through several navigable canals. The Lake’s fresh water supply also allowed for the
development of agricultural and industrial activities along its shores. Since the Greco-Roman
period, however, Lake Mariout has experienced a transformation into a salt water body that is
now only 17% of its original size due in part to actions in the early 1800s to link the Lake to an
adjoining water body, Lake Abu Qir and finally to the Mediterranean. The Lake has also been
an integral component of the city’s economic life since ancient times. Pharaonic and GrecoRoman archaeological remains of wharfs, warehouses, workshops and storage receptacles testify
to the extensive use of Lake “Mareotis” for industrial activity and trading purposes. No less than
90 archaeological sites were identified along 100 kilometers of lakeshore during an initial pilot
survey of the area conducted by the Centre for Maritime Archeology at the University of
Southampton in collaboration with the Department of Underwater Antiquities of the Egyptian
Supreme Council for Antiquities as part of the Lake Mariout Research Project.
As a result of silting and evaporation, Lake Mariout has shrunk dramatically since 1900. The
lowlands that emerged from the receding waters are being used for agriculture. Alexandria’s
large industrial zones have been sited to the south of the city on the Lake’s northern shore
including steel, petrochemicals and refineries. These heavy industries contribute to pollution.
They attracted informal developments around them that are expanding towards the lakeshore.
Today, wastewater from these settlements pollutes the Lake. A major arterial has further
bisected it into a very saline, polluted northern section and a far less polluted, brackish southern
section which is able to support fish and waterfowl.
Recently the water level in the lake has been rising but this is mostly due to the inflow of salt
carrying waters in the drainage canals from agricultural irrigation systems. The rising waters
have covered sections of streets on the western edge of the Lake and flooded basements in a new
housing development constructed by the Salt Ponds Co. for its workers forcing the abandonment
of the whole apartment complex. Several lumber yards are also threatened by the rising waters.
Developers of upper middle-class housing and resorts have reacted by infilling land to a height
of about 2.5 to 3 meters in project sites fronting on the Lake. This situation cannot improve until
the efficiency of water use in agriculture is improved, a task that is the responsibility of the
Ministry of Agriculture and not the Alexandria Governorate. Rising sea levels are bound to
aggravate the problem as it affects the Lake.
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Beach Erosion
Beach erosion in Alexandria has been increasing at an alarming rate and is the Governor’s major
concern. The phenomenon is quite complex and it is important to differentiate between the
dynamics occurring in different parts of the region. The Nile carried the sediments that have
over time formed the Delta but the completion of the Aswan High Dam in 1964 put an end to
this natural cycle. Since then the sea currents have been eroding the beaches of the North Delta
east of Alexandria from Rosetta to Port Said with no deposit of new sediments to counter the
erosion. The situation has been exacerbated by tectonic subsidence of the Delta estimated to be
on the order of three millimeters per year. Compounding the vulnerability of the coastal plain is
the extremely flat topography whereby a small rise in sea level can flood large horizontal areas.
The erosion of the outer margins of the promontories (with a loss of several kilometers) at the
estuary of the Nile’s two branches at Damietta and Rosetta as they flow into the Mediterranean
Sea is clearly visible on aerial photographs three decades apart. The impact of these natural
forces changes the shape of the coastline.
The situation in Alexandria west of the Rosetta Promontory is quite different. The site is crossed
by seismic fault lines and has a history of earthquakes which submerged the Ptolemaic and
Roman settlements and eventually brought down the famous lighthouse. The geographic
composition of the subsurface (carbonate rock) prevented significant subsidence. The
disappearance of the Canopic branch of the Nile around the first millennium A.D. deprived the
area of alluvial sediments. The current land features are the result of a pattern of emergence and
subsidence mostly related to seismic and tectonic activity.
Sea carried sediments in Egypt’s Mediterranean coasts are moved by currents from west to east.
The sandy beaches along Alexandria’s otherwise rocky coast were formed by white carbonate
sand drift from the north coast (Agami to Salloum). Today’s severe beach erosion problem is the
outcome of human action and not natural forces. The main culprits are the touristic
developments along this north coast. Resort construction grew exponentially since 1990. Each
resort developer built breakwater structures to create jetties, protect marinas and reduce beach
erosion in his resort without taking into consideration the impact of these structures on the
coastline outside the project area. By law, construction is prohibited within 200 meters of the the
mean watermark. Real estate interests invest heavily in development along the coast, ignoring
the regulations and encroaching on the protected zone. Their project-based, short-sighted vision
is affecting the surrounding environment destroying the coastal marine ecology and impacting
Alexandria. The result has been an environmentally disastrous scouring of beaches to the east,
now deprived of replenishing deposits. Furthermore, the diversion of natural sea currents by a
multitude of breakwaters and sea walls prevents adequate flushing of bays and harbors resulting
in pollution and algal blooms along the beaches.
The Governor has every reason to be concerned. Alexandria beaches now require periodic
nourishment to continue to attract the summer season tourists. Even so, Sidi Bishr beach lost 50
meters in 20 years to erosion by scouring. The Governor agreed to the Committee’s
recommendation to study the whole shoreline from Silsilah to Abu Qir as part of a climate
change mitigation plan for the Governorate. It was also agreed that the use of submerged
structures offshore should be considered since breakwaters and sea walls tend to interfere with
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natural flushing of bays resulting in algae and trash drifting onto the beaches. They also tend to
damage submerged archaeological sites.
Climate change-induced sea level rise will have a greater direct impact on the north coast resorts
area than on the city of Alexandria. However, the magnified indirect impacts on Alexandria will
increase as resort owners, managers and developers in the north shore continue to expand their
high end developments and their ill-advised protective barriers against sea waves and currents.
As a result of this situation Alexandria will suffer cumulative direct and indirect impacts
accelerating beach erosion.
Active hotel construction and extensive new real estate developments have marked Alexandria’s
revival in recent years. Understandably the Governor wants the city to remain Egypt’s primary
port and resort area on the Mediterranean. The threats it is currently facing are caused by
activities occurring outside the Governorate’s jurisdictional boundaries. They can only be
addressed at the Cabinet level. An interministerial committee should be set up with the
participation of the General Organization for Physical Planning and the General Organization for
Tourism to recommend new regulations for coastal zone development to be endorsed by the
Higher Council for Planning and Urban Development.
2.4
Groundwater levels and salt water intrusion
A similar situation prevails regarding the rising groundwater level and the intrusion of salt water
in the aquifers. Throughout the city groundwater levels have been rising, threatening to flood
archaeological sites particularly below-ground parts of structures, catacombs and cisterns. The
primary source of these waters is leakage from old water supply and sewerage pipes. Depending
on location, the wastewater is filtered by the sandy soil and the groundwater is quite clear.
Sea level rise will lead to infiltration of salt water in this perched water table adversely affecting
archaeological sites and underground infrastructure networks. Increasing groundwater salinity
damages plaster, stucco and frescoes. Damage is clearly visible in the catacombs as humidity
rises in the walls and salt microstations form causing the plasterwork to fall. Increasing salinity
will also lead to corrosion and shortened economic life of infrastructure networks.
The greatest adverse impacts resulting from sea level rise and the increasing salinization of soils
will occur in the lowlands and the brackish lakes of the Delta Coast from Rosetta to Port Said.
Here flat topography will result in extensive salt water intrusion inland affecting agriculture and
fisheries. Loss of biodiversity in the coastal marshes and the brackish lakes, and declines in a
great variety of fish and shellfish species are expected to occur although arguments have also
been advanced claiming that the long time horizon of these impacts may allow many species to
adapt to the increasing salinity of their habitat. This North Delta region is the main focus of the
Government’s climate change mitigation strategy.
2.5
The low-lying areas
The low-lying areas around Lakes Mariout and Edku to the south of the city but still within the
governorate are the most vulnerable to the impacts of climate change. The major activities are
agriculture and some industries. Ground water levels and salt intrusion in the aquifers are
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projected to increase. A sewerage project funded by the Swiss Government will service the most
rapidly urbanizing villages in the Apis area (villages 7 and 8) near the sewage treatment plant
which is being upgraded.
By international standards, Egyptian villages and small towns are very dense. Densities in
urbanizing villages rise very rapidly and are directly proportional to proximity to the city’s edge.
Densities in the Apis villages 7 and 8 we visited were on the order of 500 persons per hectare.
Within Alexandria Governorate, the total area of the informal settlements located south and east
of Lake Mariout in the lowland zone where elevations range from zero to four meters below sea
level is about 840 hectares measured on the 2007 satellite images from Google Earth. Assuming
saturation densities of 400 to 600 persons per hectare, about 400,000 persons would be at risk
from sea level rise.
Overall, residents in this vulnerable zone will experience waterlogging. Major drainage works
will be required to mitigate the adverse impact on agriculture. Elevated ground floors (three or
four steps) will prevent flooding of houses. In the lowest-lying areas protective levies may be
needed if sea level rises beyond 30 centimeters. Some of the structures along the Mahmoudia
canal and the lakeshore are clearly in high risk of flooding.
Figure No. 2: Housing in low-lying area in Alexandria
Source: Mona Serageldin
Furthermore the Governorate has commissioned in 2008 plans for the expansion of Alexandria.
These plans call for the urbanization of areas south of Lake Mariout in order to counter
continued east/west linear expansion along the seashore which is resulting in costly infrastructure
and traffic congestion. From this perspective large areas of this rural hinterland and land along
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the major east-west highways and the north-south connectors will be urbanized by 2025. In our
discussion with the Governor and the committee, we pointed out that preventing further
expansion of settlements in the highest risk areas should also be given priority as part of a land
management strategy to mitigate the impacts of climate change.
Governorate authorities are not at this time overly concerned with the predominantly rural
hinterland. Remedial action is known and the required civil works can be undertaken in due
course. Accommodating the planned expansion of the port and the industrial zone, building a
new town at Burg El Arab west of Lake Mariout, dealing with accelerated beach erosion,
controlling pollution in the bays, and draining the flooding in key listed historical monuments are
all receiving higher priority because of their impact on the economy. Given the wide range of
perspectives regarding the magnitude of the impacts attributable to climate change, it was agreed
that the Governorate committee would start by collecting and assessing existing data and that an
international workshop would be organized by the Biblioteca Alexandrina to discuss in-depth
what needs to be done to cope with current and future impacts and recommend appropriate
adaptation strategies.
Figure No. 3: Vulnerable low-lying areas in Alexandria, Egypt
Source: Base map – Google Maps. Information – Alexandria Governorate
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III. COTONOU, BENIN
1. Climate Change Vulnerability
Cotonou’s population had increased fortyfold from 1950 to 2007 and now stands at 762,000. It
is projected to double to 1.4 million by 2025 (WUP, 2007). Job opportunities in the city and the
decline in agriculture have been major factors contributing to this growth. According to the 2002
national census, 34% of households in Cotonou lived in poverty, compared to a national average
of 40%. Cotonou’s natural environment, financial resources and physical infrastructure have
long been overstretched and unable to cope with growth of this magnitude. Climate change is
expected to accentuate the city’s vulnerabilities. Rising sea levels and the increasing frequency
and intensity of storms and ocean swells will exacerbate flooding, shoreline erosion, salinization
of the lagoon and the increase in tsetse fly and malaria mosquitoes. Large residential
neighborhoods, the port of Cotonou, the airport, industrial areas, and the main road to Lagos –
part of a larger West African urban corridor linking Abidjan to Lagos – are all at risk.
Coastal erosion has been affecting the Beninese coast line for the last half century. Although the
coastline was previously considered stable, construction of the Port of Cotonou in 1962 and the
extension of a nearby port in Lomé, Togo interrupted natural patterns of coastal sand drift
leading to serious erosion in some areas. Although recently prohibited, the practice of removing
beach sand for construction accelerated the pace of erosion. Cotonou has lost an estimated 112
hectares of land, resulting in the abandonment of homes, businesses, tourist resorts, urban
infrastructure and thousands of palm trees, which provide protection against further erosion.
(Doussou and Gléhouenou-Doussou, 2007) The Ministry of the Environment, Housing and
Urbanism estimates that the coastline retracted by 50 meters on average between 1981 and 1996
and, unchecked, will retreat another 50 meters by 2025. (Ministre de l’Environnement, de
l’Habitat et de l’Urbanisme, 2001)
East of the port area, the main industrial lands as well as population concentrations in the 4th and
1st arrondissements are particularly vulnerable. The port prevents sea-carried sediments from the
west from replenishing losses to the east. The city is already encouraging residents to move
inland, but without sufficient funds for relocation this has proven a daunting task. To emphasize
the potential impacts of erosion, entire neighborhoods of Grand Popo to the west of Cotonou
have been abandoned as a result of sea encroachment. Given that two-thirds of the Beninese
population and most industry are in coastal zones and two-thirds of Cotonou’s urbanized area is
at or below sea level, even modest increases in sea levels present a serious threat.
Urban flooding already shuts Cotonou down during heavy rains as water fails to drain naturally.
Hard surfaces and the orientation of the city’s street network obstruct natural drainage channels.
Growing population and increasing intensity of weather patterns will lead to greater and more
frequent flooding. According to the 2002 national census, fewer than 10% of households had
gutters or water drainage systems. Improving drainage and preventing new settlement in the
most vulnerable areas are becoming increasingly pressing challenges.
Lake Nokoué is just north of Cotonou and connected to the Atlantic by the Cotonou Lagoon. An
estimated 15,000 people depend on ocean and lake fishing. (Doussou and Gléhouenou-Doussou,
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2007) A number of lake villages on stilts are also at risk. The largest, Ganvié, has around 20,000
residents and is an important cultural heritage site and a major tourist attraction.
Pollution and overfishing are affecting the ecology of the lake. Many popular fish are in decline
and with a nearby population of about a million to feed, overfishing is likely to continue. A
sustained outreach effort, awareness building and a joint city/community interface must be
instituted whereby community-based organizations are involved as full partners in the
management of the lake fisheries.
Figure No. 4: Housing near Cotonou’s main industrial area
Source: Emily Hibbets
Rising sea levels will contribute heavily to the lake’s existing problems. Salinization and the
reduction of periphyton, an important food source for much aquatic life, will continue to change
the lake’s ecology. A decline in the prevalence of edible and profitable fish is anticipated. The
disappearance of mangroves will lead to the loss of important spawning grounds compounding
the problem. Adverse impacts on employment and informal income-generating activities will
affect lower-income communities that have traditionally relied on the lake for food and to earn a
living. (Doussou and Gléhouenou-Doussou, 2007)
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Figure No. 5: Key areas affected by sea level rise in Cotonou, Benin
Source: Base map – Google Earth. Information – Cotonou City Map
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2. Climate Change Adaptation
Local, national and international bodies all have a role to play in addressing these challenges.
The Ministry of Environment, Habitation and Urbanism laid out a series of potential adaptive
actions in its 2001 First National Communication of the Republic of Benin to the Framework
Convention on Climate Change. To control coastal erosion, the Ministry recommended
constructing: 1) a system of groynes to interrupt flowing water and encourage the deposit of
sand; 2) breakwaters to limit the disruptive force of incoming waves; 3) building protective sea
walls around vulnerable buildings and infrastructure; and 4) providing beach nourishment with
sand from areas of built-up deposits. These are all immediate remedial measures whose longerterm impacts have to be well-studied to avoid unanticipated adverse consequences.
At Lake Nokoué, the Ministry recommended the construction of dams to control the flow of
water between the lake and the Atlantic, the replenishment of lake bed sands, and the
introduction of stocks of fish that can thrive in various levels of salinity. Furthermore, the
Ministry also suggested a change in fishing techniques to prevent further damage to the aquatic
environment, the promotion of aquaculture and a shift away from fishing to other economic
activities.
Expensive investment for groynes, dams, seawalls and other infrastructure are well beyond the
fiscal capacity of Cotonou’s municipal government without donor funding and assistance. The
estimated cost of a single groyne was about $1 million in 2001, the equivalent of over 3,100
times the average income per capita for that year. Introducing new fishing methods and practices
is a necessary precondition to instituting fish quotas and preventing violations, but it is bound to
meet with resistance. Sustained outreach and pilot projects including trials undertaken by the
fishermen themselves will be needed to transition to improved fishing techniques that can
simultaneously maintain current income levels while protecting the fragile Lake environment.
3. City Government Responses and Priorities
In a discussion with Mona Serageldin, Dr. Nicéphore Dieudonné Soglo, Mayor of Cotonou and
former President of Benin, identified a number of key initiatives and priorities for his
government in adapting to climate change. Although these vary widely – one even offers an
opportunity to reduce carbon emissions – all tie climate change responses to existing priorities in
an effort to achieve the maximum impact with limited resources.
3.1
Solid Waste Management
Many households and home-builders use solid waste to fill swampy lots. This practice pollutes
groundwater, changes natural drainage and encourages the spread pests, insects and disease.
Cotonou does not have the equipment to collect and dispose of the 710 tons of solid waste that it
generates per day. Community-based, NGO-led solid waste collection and recycling initiatives
have won awards and done a good job at cleaning up neighborhoods. But they are insufficient to
deal with the collection and disposal of garbage at the city scale. As increased flooding affects
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larger areas of the city, the use of garbage as fill is becoming more prevalent and more
problematic.
3.2
Improvement of Transport Systems
As in many African cities, the urban transportation system in Cotonou is inadequate and
congested. Public transportation, in particular, needs significant reinvestment. At present 90% of
collective transportation trips are taken on motorcycle taxis, compared to just 2% for institutional
public transportation. (Godard, 2002) Informal and public motorized trips by motorcycle taxi
account for only 55% of trips in Lomé and 30% in Douala. These motorcycles are dangerous,
loud and heavy polluters. As a result, air quality in Cotonou is significantly worse than in other
African cities of a similar size.
Cotonou’s geography, a narrow rectangle between the Atlantic and Lake Nakoué, and its wide
boulevards make it ideally suited to an east-west oriented rapid bus network that could be
supported by a motorcycle and microbus taxi feeder system. Tighter emissions controls on
motorcycle taxis will also have a role to play to improve local air quality and CO2 emissions.
Although few transportation projects have been accepted for the Kyoto Protocol’s Clean
Development Mechanism (CDM), a program by which industrialized nations can invest in
carbon reduction programs in developing countries for carbon credits, the CDM presents an
opportunity to reduce emissions at reasonable prices while encouraging locally sustainable
development. (Zegras, 2007)
The World Bank is currently financing a project to improve roads and drainage infrastructure in
three Beninese cities, including Cotonou. According to the Bank’s estimates the project will
protect 76,000 residents, infrastructure and property from regular flooding as well as improve
road connections for 106,000 people. The total cost of $75 million ($35 million in 2006 and $40
million in 2008) represents 1.4% of the country’s 2008 GDP and underscores the difficulties in
financing urban infrastructure improvements in Cotonou and throughout Benin from own
sources. In order to create jobs, the Bank is using labor intensive construction. President Soglo
stressed the importance of maximizing job creation in construction and adaptation projects
throughout the city. Without work today, it is difficult to worry about future problems of rising
sea levels and damage to the ecosystem.
3.3
Control of Flooding
The stretch of land near the lagoon between the lake and the sea is swampy, vulnerable to
flooding and a breeding ground for mosquitoes and tsetse flies. President Soglo wants to drain,
fill and stabilize this area, which also contains major markets including the popular women’s
produce market. In Benin, informal employment account for 93% of all non-agricultural jobs,
well above the average of 72% for Sub-Saharan African countries, and contributes an estimated
43% of non-agricultural GDP. (ILO, 2002) At 97%, informal employment rates are even higher
for women, most of whom work in informal markets. Protecting these markets is vital to women
as well as to the overall economy. The markets are strategically located from the viewpoint of
access to suppliers and clients. The women leaders are vocal and have forcefully demanded the
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construction of protective barriers to prevent regular flooding of their stalls.
specifically asked President Soglo to provide them with adequate protection.
They have
The municipality is working with funding and technical assistance from the Dutch government to
design and implement protective barriers to control flooding in the areas below sea level. An
elevated corniche road, which will serve a dual purpose as part of a ring road and as a sea wall
protecting low-lying areas of Cotonou from flooding and the impending rise in sea levels. This
road, coupled with improved public transportation, will also increase the supply of accessible
land around the city. Finding suitable tracts to accommodate Cotonou’s fast expanding
population is essential to limiting the harmful impacts of climate change. Appreciating land
values have greatly contributed to drive new developments to the periphery and to ecologically
vulnerable areas. Providing access to safe, affordable land is a key local government role in
climate change adaptation.
Figure No. 6: Housing vulnerable to flooding in Cotonou.
Source: Emily Hibbets
3.4
Strengthening Municipal Finance
The weak fiscal capacity of African cities constitutes a major impediment hindering their ability
to address pressing challenges including immediate threats caused by longer term trends
attributable to climate change. President Soglo brings to this issue the unique perspective of a
leader who has experience running the national government as well as the economic capital city
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Climate Change in the Local Development Agenda
Fifth Urban Research Symposium 2009
of the country. He is strongly advocating that bilateral and multilateral development
organizations fund cities directly and help them develop their own revenue sources. Funding
through central government is cumbersome and unwieldy. Inefficiency in the transfer of
financial resources is compounded by the lack of transfer of human resources.
Some of the larger infrastructure projects required to help mitigate the impacts of rising sea
levels may involve central agencies, but the city has the key role. Its land management
competences are crucial to address the urban environmental challenges including those generated
or aggravated by climate change. Foremost among these is continued settlement in the
ecologically vulnerable wetlands in constant danger of flooding and erosion. Resettling residents
at risk is beyond the municipality’s financial capacity. Major investments in infrastructure
(roads, water supply, and sanitation) are needed first to provide protection from the impact of
rising sea levels and storms and second to enable the city to develop a rational land management
strategy with a view to open up affordable living options for the city’s growing population
outside of the highest risk areas.
IV. CONCLUSION
Alexandria and Cotonou recognize that they are vulnerable to the impacts of climate change.
Because of the long time frame of the predicted disasters, neither city considers addressing
scenarios of extreme events and floods projected by researchers as a priority deserving the same
attention as enhancing economic competitiveness, improving infrastructure and urban services,
and absorbing population growth. Yet city authorities in both cases have been thinking about the
need to increase resilience to the growing impacts of weather patterns and rising sea levels and
despite technical and financial constraints have managed to take actions to counter some impacts.
The discussions held with the Governor of Alexandria, the Mayor of Cotonou, and senior
officials and experts allowed us to develop a clear understanding of the situation as perceived by
the city authorities, the importance and urgency given to the different categories of impacts, the
strategies adopted to respond to immediate threats and the actions already taken. These actions
are typically tied politically and economically important issues such as unemployment,
infrastructure deficiencies, inadequate urban services, pollution and traffic congestion. The
experiences of the two cities clearly demonstrate that for climate change resilience in developing
countries to be salient, resilience-building strategies must be linked to current threats and urgent
issues, and solidly tied to government priorities.
The dynamics of urban growth and land markets make appropriate responses difficult and
expensive. As Alexandria and Cotonou grow, vulnerable populations continue to settle in riskprone areas and future resettlement is even more difficult to contemplate due to the lack of
suitable and affordable land, lagging infrastructure and inadequate public transportation.
Decision-makers need to adopt land management strategies that will guide growth away from the
most flood-prone and hazardous areas. This will require partnership with private developers and
NGOs to increase the supply of affordable land for urban expansion and in the case of Cotonou
organizing links between formal and informal service providers to extend services to newly
urbanized areas yet to be reached by infrastructure networks. It will also require sustained action
to control pervasive corruption in the administration of permits issued by subdistrict offices and
in the inspectional services that allow violations to continue unabated.
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V.
Fifth Urban Research Symposium 2009
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