The Cost of Coastal Zone Degradation in West Africa : Benin, Côte d'Ivoire, Senegal and Togo

West Africa’s coastal areas host about one third of the region’s population and generate 56 percent of its GDP. They are home for valuable wetlands, fisheries, oil and gas reserves, and high tourism potential. However, these areas are affected by s...

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Main Authors: Croitoru, Lelia, Miranda, Juan José, Sarraf, Maria
Format: Report
Language:English
Published: World Bank, Washington, DC 2019
Subjects:
Online Access:http://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/822421552504665834/The-Cost-of-Coastal-Zone-Degradation-in-West-Africa-Benin-Côte-dIvoire-Senegal-and-Togo
http://hdl.handle.net/10986/31428
id okr-10986-31428
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spelling okr-10986-314282021-06-14T10:03:59Z The Cost of Coastal Zone Degradation in West Africa : Benin, Côte d'Ivoire, Senegal and Togo Croitoru, Lelia Miranda, Juan José Sarraf, Maria COASTAL ECOLOGY FLOODS CLIMATE CHANGE DISASTER RISK WATER QUALITY NATURAL RESOURCE MANAGEMENT ENVIRONMENTAL DEGRADATION AIR POLLUTION WASTEWATER EROSION West Africa’s coastal areas host about one third of the region’s population and generate 56 percent of its GDP. They are home for valuable wetlands, fisheries, oil and gas reserves, and high tourism potential. However, these areas are affected by severe pressures: rapid urbanization along the coast has increased the demands on land, water, and other natural resources; man-made infrastructure and sand extraction have contributed to significant coastal retreat; moreover, climate change and disaster risks are exacerbating these threats. As a result, coastal areas are undergoing alarming environmental degradation leading to deaths (due to floods, air and water pollution), losses of assets (houses, infrastructure) and damages to critical ecosystems (mangroves, marine habitat). This study estimates in monetary terms the Cost of Environmental Degradation (COED) in the coastal areas of Benin, Côte d’Ivoire, Senegal, and Togo. Specifically,it values the impacts of degradation that occur during one year, as a result of three major factors: flooding, erosion, and pollution (from water, air and waste). The final results are expressed in 2017 prices. They are reflected in absolute (USD) and in relative terms, as percentage of the countries’ GDP. Overall, the COED of the four countries is estimated at aboutUSD 3.8 billion, or 5.3 percent of the countries’ GDP in 2017. Flooding and erosion are the main forms of degradation, accounting for more than 60 percent of the total cost. Moreover, coastal degradation causes over 13,000 deaths a year, primarily due to air and water pollution, and to floods. 2019-03-20T18:35:07Z 2019-03-20T18:35:07Z 2019-03-13 Report http://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/822421552504665834/The-Cost-of-Coastal-Zone-Degradation-in-West-Africa-Benin-Côte-dIvoire-Senegal-and-Togo http://hdl.handle.net/10986/31428 English CC BY 3.0 IGO http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/igo World Bank World Bank, Washington, DC Economic & Sector Work Economic & Sector Work :: Other Environmental Study Africa West Africa Benin Cote d'Ivoire Senegal Togo
repository_type Digital Repository
institution_category Foreign Institution
institution Digital Repositories
building World Bank Open Knowledge Repository
collection World Bank
language English
topic COASTAL ECOLOGY
FLOODS
CLIMATE CHANGE
DISASTER RISK
WATER QUALITY
NATURAL RESOURCE MANAGEMENT
ENVIRONMENTAL DEGRADATION
AIR POLLUTION
WASTEWATER
EROSION
spellingShingle COASTAL ECOLOGY
FLOODS
CLIMATE CHANGE
DISASTER RISK
WATER QUALITY
NATURAL RESOURCE MANAGEMENT
ENVIRONMENTAL DEGRADATION
AIR POLLUTION
WASTEWATER
EROSION
Croitoru, Lelia
Miranda, Juan José
Sarraf, Maria
The Cost of Coastal Zone Degradation in West Africa : Benin, Côte d'Ivoire, Senegal and Togo
geographic_facet Africa
West Africa
Benin
Cote d'Ivoire
Senegal
Togo
description West Africa’s coastal areas host about one third of the region’s population and generate 56 percent of its GDP. They are home for valuable wetlands, fisheries, oil and gas reserves, and high tourism potential. However, these areas are affected by severe pressures: rapid urbanization along the coast has increased the demands on land, water, and other natural resources; man-made infrastructure and sand extraction have contributed to significant coastal retreat; moreover, climate change and disaster risks are exacerbating these threats. As a result, coastal areas are undergoing alarming environmental degradation leading to deaths (due to floods, air and water pollution), losses of assets (houses, infrastructure) and damages to critical ecosystems (mangroves, marine habitat). This study estimates in monetary terms the Cost of Environmental Degradation (COED) in the coastal areas of Benin, Côte d’Ivoire, Senegal, and Togo. Specifically,it values the impacts of degradation that occur during one year, as a result of three major factors: flooding, erosion, and pollution (from water, air and waste). The final results are expressed in 2017 prices. They are reflected in absolute (USD) and in relative terms, as percentage of the countries’ GDP. Overall, the COED of the four countries is estimated at aboutUSD 3.8 billion, or 5.3 percent of the countries’ GDP in 2017. Flooding and erosion are the main forms of degradation, accounting for more than 60 percent of the total cost. Moreover, coastal degradation causes over 13,000 deaths a year, primarily due to air and water pollution, and to floods.
format Report
author Croitoru, Lelia
Miranda, Juan José
Sarraf, Maria
author_facet Croitoru, Lelia
Miranda, Juan José
Sarraf, Maria
author_sort Croitoru, Lelia
title The Cost of Coastal Zone Degradation in West Africa : Benin, Côte d'Ivoire, Senegal and Togo
title_short The Cost of Coastal Zone Degradation in West Africa : Benin, Côte d'Ivoire, Senegal and Togo
title_full The Cost of Coastal Zone Degradation in West Africa : Benin, Côte d'Ivoire, Senegal and Togo
title_fullStr The Cost of Coastal Zone Degradation in West Africa : Benin, Côte d'Ivoire, Senegal and Togo
title_full_unstemmed The Cost of Coastal Zone Degradation in West Africa : Benin, Côte d'Ivoire, Senegal and Togo
title_sort cost of coastal zone degradation in west africa : benin, côte d'ivoire, senegal and togo
publisher World Bank, Washington, DC
publishDate 2019
url http://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/822421552504665834/The-Cost-of-Coastal-Zone-Degradation-in-West-Africa-Benin-Côte-dIvoire-Senegal-and-Togo
http://hdl.handle.net/10986/31428
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