The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) in Kenya has called on the private sector and international development partners to support the Government to help strengthen climate finance at the county level.
In a statement, UNDP Kenya’s Resident Representative Walid Badawi also called on the government to enhance domestic budget allocation towards climate relevant sectors to strengthen sustainable climate action at the county level.
“We commend the Government of Kenya for the commitment and leadership in ensuring that coordination structures and instruments are put in place so that as part of the national climate change response efforts, sustainable and innovative financing is mobilized. At the national level, efforts by the National Treasury and Planning and the Ministry of Environment and Forestry are beginning to bear some fruits. More work is still required to fully bring all the 47 counties into this fold,” Badawi said.
He said that UNDP and the National Treasury have prepared the Kenya Climate Finance Synthesis Report and Programme, which analyses Kenya’s climate finance journey.
Badawi further called on the counties to enhance allocations towards mitigation actions such as reafforestation, renewable energy, sustainable transport, agriculture and integrating nature-based solutions in the development plans.
“The Glasgow compromise pact during the COP26 does not deliver the real tangible financing required by developing countries like Kenya to effectively adapt to the ravaging climate crisis. The Climate Change Act 2016, the Climate Finance Policy 2018, and the Public Finance Management Act 2012 all demand availing of enough resources. There is an urgent need for financing as a key enabler to climate adaptation and disaster risk management. Without climate financing, then all plans, policies, commitments, and budgets are only empty wishes, that come to naught,” said Badawi.
UNDP encourages counties to dedicate significant portions of their budgetary allocations to strengthen climate actions in line with the progressive Nationally Determined Contributions Update submitted by Kenya to UNFCCC.
The three-day Devolution Conference happening in Makueni County aims to strengthen sub-national governments to act on climate change and develop stronger mitigation capacities.
It is marked at a very important time, after the just ended Twenty-Sixth Conference of Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) that was held in Glasgow, Scotland under the United Kingdom, and Italy’s presidency.