Kisii County sets aside Sh100m to address effects of climate change

The Kisii County government has set aside Sh100 million in its 2021/22 budget to finance actions that will mitigate the effects of climate change.

Kisii is one of the counties that have enacted the Climate Change Act with Governor James Ongwae appointing a director in charge of climate change. The director will develop locally led action programmes and policies to deal with the issue.

In an interview with Nation.Africa Mr Ongwae, who is also the vice chair of the Council of Governors (CoG), said the office will generate data on the climate change challenges and spell out bold strategies that will put the country on a sustainable growth path in the shortest time possible.

“We have set aside Sh100 million in our budget for this year. I have also appointed a director in charge of climate change whose mandate is to accelerate action to moderate the negative impacts of climate change,” Mr Ongwae said.

He added that the office will also facilitate adjustment to expected climate impacts and strengthen capacity in the county to absorb, and recover from climate change effects.

 Proper policies

“The office’s mandate is to ensure proper policies are in place within the shortest time possible,” he told the Nation in an interview at the just concluded 7th Devolution Conference in Makueni County.

He, however, admitted that the available resources are not enough to address the impact of climate change, revealing that both levels of government had agreed during the conference to increase resource allocation towards mitigation and adaptation strategies to enhance preparedness and response towards impacts of climate change by county governments.

“We have agreed to build on the robust public finance management framework to ring-fence funds for climate change action, ensure more equitable distribution of resources for climate action and timely availability of the funds to counties and other institutions involved in climate action,” he said of the conference.

Coming weeks after the end of the 2021 United Nations Climate Change Conference, also known as COP26, held in Glasgow, Scotland, climate change was the big topic at the conference in which counties were hard pressed to explain their strategies to fight the menace.

Kenya is ranked as the 31st most vulnerable county to climate change and statistics show that climate change impacts lead to a loss of about 3 per cent of the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) annually.

In the last two years, Kenya has witnessed the worst locust outbreak in 25 years, which left about one million people food-insecure in the Horn of Africa.

The rising water levels of the Rift Valley Lakes, Lake Victoria and Turkwel Gorge Dam have displaced nearly 400,000 people in thirteen counties and affected biodiversity, including flamingos in Lake Nakuru.

So far, 33 county governments, including Kisii, have developed county specific laws on climate change, established policies and supporting legislation on climate change.

They have also established climate change units; and put into operation a Fund for climate change mechanism.

At national level, Kenya has committed to reduce her greenhouse gas emissions by 32 per cent in the next ten years. 

During the conference, President Uhuru Kenyatta said this will cost Sh6.2 trillion with Kenya expected to raise 13 per cent of this figure, Sh800 billion, from domestic sources.

The balance of will be mobilised from the external sources.

One of the key deliverables in the Action Plan is to increase Kenya forest cover in the medium term, from approximately 6.9 per cent of our land area to at least 10 per cent by 2022. 

This is in line with the Constitution, with respect to maintaining a clean and healthy environment for all. 

The Ministry of Environment is targeting to provide at least 42.5 million seedlings per county, which would bring the total to the two billion target required to take Kenya to 10 per cent forest cover.

 Innovative approaches

Counties have also been challenged to use innovative approaches to expand access to energy through off-grid solar power and other clean cooking energy sources, with the aim of delivering 100 per cent clean cooking energy sources by 2028.

While the use, manufacture, and importation of single use plastic bags has been outlawed in Kenya, as a way of protecting and conserving the environment, Mr Ongwae says his administration has invested on sustainable waste management projects to achieve a net zero plastic waste by 2030.

In the final communique, which was read by Mr Ongwae on the last day of the conference, the two levels affirmed the need to conserve the environment and natural resources for the current and future generations.

“Both levels of government shall design and implement practical policies, strategies, laws, regulations and action plans to address climate change. Both levels of government shall strengthen structured intergovernmental consultations and ensure effective joint efforts and programming on resilient food systems,” Mr Ongwae said.