Kenya has made significant gains in recent years toward its objective to become a prosperous country with a high quality of life for all its citizens. However, climate change threatens to reverse Kenya’s progress on poverty reduction, exacerbate economic disparities and social challenges, and severely impact the ability of the Kenyan environment to provide crucial global and local ecosystem services. In 2010, the Government of Kenya published its National Climate Change Response Strategy (NCCRS). The Government of Kenya launched the NCCRS with the ob-jective of enhancing investments that reduce vulnerability and build resilience in line with commitments and opportunities created by the international climate change regime. With support from many partners, the Government of Kenya is putting in place mechanisms to enhance implementation of the NCCRS through a comprehensive Climate Change Action Plan.
IDLO, in collaboration with the Kenyan Government, are developing an enabling regulatory and policy framework to support effective climate change actions in Kenya, through assessment, stakeholder consultation, capacity building and law and policy drafting by:
(a) reviewing existing umbrella and sectoral policies, legislation and strategies in Kenya, or elsewhere, highlighting strengths and weaknesses relative to the climate change context in Kenya and identifying gaps;
(b) reviewing current institutional and technical capacity to enhance coordination and implementation of climate change actions, identifying strengths and any areas for improvement, as well as making recommendations to inform the policy and regulatory framework;
(c) formulating a National Climate Change Policy; and
(d) tabling recommendations for a Regulatory Framework to enhance coordination and implementation of climate change actions.
IDLO’s team of Kenyan legal specialists will deliver a Legal Preparedness Assessment Report (LPAR), establish a Climate Law Working Group composed of 8 graduate level students from Kenya’s top universities, carry out stakeholder engagement Dialogues, and provide targeted capacity building through toolkits, legal briefs and legal education workshops to policy makers in Kenya’s key Counties and Federal sectoral ministries. All aspects of the Program serve to ensure that all outcomes are Kenya-driven and enhance project sustainability.