Amplified Civil Society Voices Shape Public Debate on Just Climate Action

Despite being among the least contributors to global Greenhouse Gas (GHGs) emissions, Kenya continues to grapple with the ever-increasing burden of Climate Change. Climate Change hits first and hardest on vulnerable populations of especially women, youth, persons with disability, indigenous communities, and marginalized communities highly reliant on a Kenyan economy that is dependent on climate-sensitive sectors of agriculture, water, energy, tourism, wildlife, and health. ‘With 2030 nearing and yet the promise by 193 nations to leave no one behind with the adoption of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, seems unachievable due to global inaction on issues such as climate change.’ When ever-increasing climate disasters of unprecedented heavy downpours cause a rise in water levels in Lake Nakuru, Elementaiata, and Naivasha, as prolonged and frequent droughts in Nakuru County; while no one is safe from these climate adversities, how can the most disadvantaged adapt quickly and also contribute to Mitigation efforts? Arid Lands Information Network (ALIN) is cognizant of the fact that there are few avenues where the most impacted by climate change can demand climate action. The Voices for Just Climate Action Programme supported by Word Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) provides this avenue that comprises Civil Society Organisations in Nakuru County working on climate action at the forefront advocating for climate action. The Civil Society Organisations drawn from youth, the Ogiek community, persons with disability, women, and marginalized persons organisations on 5th July 2022 set the Agenda to advocate for the implementation of the Nakuru County Climate Change Act, 2021 and the Climate Change Fund Regulations, 2022 in order to ensure prioritisation of community needs in the county action plans and receive support for their locally identified priority adaptation actions. Arid Lands Information Network (ALIN) has been supporting Civil Society Organisations in collaboration with other Voices for Just Climate Action (VCA) working in Nakuru County to realize their set agenda by building their capacity on the Nakuru County Climate Change Act, 2021 and Climate Change Fund Regulations, 2022 that provides for the establishment of the Ward Climate Change Planning Committees (WCCPCs) and the Financing Locally Led Climate Actions (FLLoCA) Programme by the National Treasury that aims to strengthen local resilience to climate by delivering capacity building and climate finance for community-led actions that aim to strengthen local resilience to climate by delivering capacity building and climate finance for community-led actions.
Duty bearers are at the forefront in implementing climate actions; ALIN has been forging partnerships with the County Government of Nakuru to cultivate a collaborative environment where CSOs can engage and ensure that decisions made on climate change are participatory, inclusive, transparent and utilize effective collaboration between the County Government of Nakuru and non-state actors to secure climate justice. Further ALIN is working towards securing climate justice by highlighting and giving close consideration to the implications that existing gender inequalities, coupled with climate change have on exacerbating vulnerabilities of climate change.