“We’ll Always Need the Toilet”: why sanitation remains fundamental in a changing world
Every 19 November, World Toilet Day serves as a reminder of one of the most overlooked foundations of health, dignity and environmental protection: access to safe sanitation. The 2025 campaign, “We’ll Always Need the Toilet”, underscores a simple but urgent message. No matter how quickly the world changes, sanitation remains a constant need. It is the backbone of disease prevention, a prerequisite for gender equality and education, and a frontline defence against environmental contamination. Yet today, 3.4 billion people still live without safely managed sanitation services, almost half the global population. Another 354 million people continue to practise open defecation, exposing entire communities to avoidable risks.
The toilet is the backbone of disease prevention, a prerequisite for gender equality and education, and a frontline defence against environmental contamination
A “safe toilet” means more than a physical structure. It represents safely managed sanitation: facilities not shared between households, waste that is safely disposed of on-site or transported and treated off-site, and systems that reliably protect public health. Sanitation is recognized as a human right, but for millions of women, girls, older people and persons with disabilities, this right remains unfulfilled. The absence of clean, accessible and secure toilets limits participation in public life, learning and work. In schools, inadequate sanitation contributes to girls missing learning days, especially during menstruation, reinforcing cycles of exclusion. Children everywhere face heightened vulnerability to diseases such as cholera, diarrhoea, typhoid, dysentery and hepatitis A when sanitation fails or is absent. Every day, unsafe water, sanitation and hygiene contribute to the deaths of around 1,000 children under five, illustrating starkly the human cost of neglecting basic services.
The environmental dimensions of sanitation failures are equally profound. When human waste is not safely treated, rivers, lakes and groundwater become contaminated with pathogens and nutrients. This not only undermines public health but also reduces the availability of safe water and accelerates ecosystem degradation. Globally, 44% of household wastewater is not treated properly, and only 38% of industrial wastewater is safely treated in reporting countries. Such figures point to the immense potential — and necessity — of scaling safe wastewater management. An estimated 320 billion cubic metres of wastewater could be safely reused every year, which is more than ten times current global desalination capacity. Harnessing this potential could strengthen water security, support agriculture and reduce demand pressures in increasingly water-stressed regions.
Sanitation under pressure: systems strained by climate and rising demand
The global sanitation crisis is unfolding within a broader set of pressures that threaten to overwhelm existing systems. Much of the world’s sanitation infrastructure was built decades ago, and in many regions it is now aging, overstretched and vulnerable. Population growth, rapid urbanization, underinvestment and lack of long-term maintenance have pushed many systems to the brink of failure. At the same time, climate change is reshaping hydrological and environmental conditions, adding new stresses that sanitation systems were never designed to accommodate.
Climate change is reshaping hydrological and environmental conditions, adding new stresses that sanitation systems were never designed to accommodate
Climate change affects sanitation both directly and indirectly. Melting glaciers, shrinking snowfields and volatile meltwater flows undermine the reliability of freshwater resources that many communities depend on. This instability affects the functioning of sanitation systems, particularly those reliant on predictable water flows. Sea-level rise — already approximately 20 centimetres higher than in 1900 — threatens coastal sanitation infrastructure with inundation and saltwater intrusion. Increased flooding can damage toilets, sewerage networks and wastewater treatment plants, releasing untreated waste into the environment and contaminating entire communities in its wake. Rising temperatures accelerate pathogen growth in polluted waters, compounding public health risks. Floods, droughts and climate-related disasters will place 1.6 billion people at risk by 2050, while up to 3.2 billion people may be living in severely water-scarce areas, further complicating the delivery of safe sanitation services.
The relationship between sanitation and climate change is also mutually reinforcing. Poorly managed wastewater systems emit methane and nitrous oxide, potent greenhouse gases that contribute to rising temperatures and glacial loss. This dynamic highlights the need to modernize sanitation not only for public health and environmental protection but also as part of global climate mitigation strategies.
Building future-ready sanitation: pathways to resilience, equity and sustainability
In this context, the need to invest in future-ready sanitation systems is more urgent than ever. Future-ready systems are inclusive, climate-resilient, low-emission and designed to safely manage and reuse wastewater as part of a circular economy. They must also be supported by strong governance, sustained investment and effective regulation. Safely managed sanitation is foundational to progress across the 2030 Agenda, supporting health, gender equality, urban resilience, environmental protection and economic opportunity.
Future-ready systems are inclusive, climate-resilient, low-emission and designed to safely manage and reuse wastewater as part of a circular economy
Achieving such progress, however, requires a dramatic acceleration. At current rates, three billion people will still be without safe toilets in 2030. Meeting the Sustainable Development Goal 6.2 target of sanitation for all will require a six-fold global increase in progress. For low-income countries, the challenge is even more stark: progress must accelerate thirteen-fold for basic sanitation and twenty-one-fold for safely managed services. These figures illustrate not only the scale of the challenge but also the scale of the opportunity to transform systems for long-term resilience and equity.
Strengthening sanitation systems requires more than infrastructure. It demands long-term, predictable financing, integration into climate adaptation and emergency response plans, and regulatory frameworks that protect both users and sanitation workers. Sanitation workers provide an essential public service, often under dangerous, unregulated and invisible conditions. Governments have a responsibility to ensure their safety through legal protections, proper training, fair wages and access to healthcare. Globally, making sanitation systems safe for the workers who sustain them is a critical component of building resilient services.
Strengthening sanitation systems demands long-term financing, integration into climate adaptation and emergency response plans, and regulatory frameworks that protect users and sanitation workers
Climate-resilient sanitation solutions must be designed to withstand floods, droughts and other shocks. This includes elevating or flood-proofing facilities, improving drainage, strengthening sewerage networks and adopting technologies suitable for water-scarce environments. At the same time, the safe reuse of treated wastewater offers a pathway to reducing emissions, conserving water and supporting sustainable agriculture. Circular approaches can reduce dependence on freshwater resources and transform waste into valuable inputs for energy and nutrient cycles.
The road ahead: data, resilience and collective will
Sanitation is not a stand-alone service. It is a foundational building block for equitable, stable and resilient societies
Looking ahead, the data paints a clear picture. Billions of people still lack access to safe toilets. Progress remains far too slow. Climate pressures are increasing. And aging systems are failing faster than they are being replaced. Yet the solutions are known, the technologies exist and the global evidence base is stronger than ever. To protect health, strengthen resilience and deliver on the human right to sanitation, countries must place sanitation at the centre of policy, planning and investment.
Sanitation is not a stand-alone service. It is a foundational building block for equitable, stable and resilient societies. The world will always need the toilet. The question now is whether global action can rise to meet this reality with the urgency it demands.