Lowest clean oceans scores worldwide 2022, by country

The country with the lowest clean water score worldwide in 2022 was Benin, with a score of just 15.2 out of 100. This was around 73 points lower than the clean water score in Canada, which had the highest clean waters score worldwide in 2022. Other countries that had high levels of pollutants in estuarine, coastal, and open ocean waters that year were Togo, Bangladesh, and Cameroon.

The water crisis in West Africa

In 2022, eight out of the 15 countries with lowest scores of clean estuarine, coastal, and open ocean waters were located in West Africa. Not only does water pollution threat autochthonous plant and animal species, but also human health. For instance, countries where the access to safe drinking water receives little attention are more prone to waterborne diseases, such as cholera or diarrhea.

There are several drivers of the water pollution crisis in Africa, such as plastic waste shipped from the Global North that finds its way to water ecosystems, or massive-scale agriculture that heavily relies on the use of agrochemicals which later leak into rivers, streams and other water bodies. Other reasons also include untreated sewage resulting from Africa’s delicate infrastructure, which in turn is challenged by its rapidly growing population, or mining processes such as hydraulic fracturing – commonly known as fracking – which involves injecting a high-pressure mixture of water, sand, and chemicals into deep underground wells.