Rising temperatures and environmental degradation in Kenya are threatening people’s livelihoods, jeopardizing economic development and forcibly displacing vulnerable communities.
In Kilifi County on the Kenyan coast, where the arid and semi-arid land is highly vulnerable to the impacts of climate change, IDLO supported the development of regulatory frameworks designed to strengthen the county’s response to the impacts of climate change.
The result was two key pieces of legislation enacted on 10th July 2023 – a Bill amending the County Climate Change Act, 2021 and the Kilifi County Climate Change Policy, 2023.
The Climate Change (Amendment) Bill, 2023 provides guidance in several key areas, notably the development and implementation of carbon markets where people and companies can buy and sell carbon credits to offset greenhouse gas emissions. It also advises on the role of the Kilifi County Executive Committee in helping to educate and empower communities so people can participate effectively in climate change governance and response, and stipulates the amount of development financing that should be dedicated to climate actions.
The Kilifi County Climate Change Policy, 2023 focuses on strengthening the county’s implementation of climate change mitigation and adaption strategies. It calls for mainstreaming climate change actions across all development sectors; promoting the effective participation and inclusion of minority and marginalized groups in adaptation and mitigation initiatives at all levels; and encouraging the uptake and transfer of technologies that can maximize the county’s adaptation and mitigation potential.
This work is part of a 2022 partnership between IDLO, Kenya’s Ministry of Environment, Climate Change and Forestry and the governments of Kajiado, Kiambu, Kilifi, Kisumu and Meru counties, with the aim of developing legislative frameworks related to natural resource management and climate change. Such efforts are key to facilitating Kenya’s transition to a low-carbon development pathway in line with the 2015 Paris Agreement and Kenya’s Climate Change Act of 2016.
Photo caption: 10 July 2023, Kilifi County Governor, Gideon Maitha Mung'aro, signs into law the Climate Change (Amendment) Bill, 2023.