Kisumu County has set aside Sh2 billion towards stemming climate catastrophe in line with Kenya’s commitment to the COP26 Paris agreement pact.
This money will be used for climate investments and projects particularly in supporting tree planting in all the 35 wards.
The region has prioritized the formulation of County Climate Change policy giving it a millage in localizing climate change actions hence contributing to the Nationally Determined Contribution (NDC).
Through Kisumu Climate Change Act 2020, the County Climate Change Fund Mechanism has been operationalized and in coordination with Ward Climate Change Planning Committees which are mandated to identify climate investments for local action.
In his speech during the 4th State Of The County Address, Kisumu Governor Prof Anyang’ Nyong’o said that the biggest polluters were not willing to stop their bad habits of emitting greenhouse gases into the atmosphere through equally bad industrial habits of exploiting fossil fuels for automation and production.
“We have reached a point of no return and inaction will mean catastrophic outcomes for life on the planet as our overall activities in the area on the environment will not only impact climate action but also our livelihoods,” said Nyong’o.
The governor further urged Kisumu residents to start preparing the urban areas to be able to respond to emerging challenges that would have a bearing on the quality of livelihood going into the future.
He based this on studies that had shown that by the year 2050, the world’s majority population would be living in urban areas.
Climate change remains one of the biggest threats to the world because of emissions from fossil fuels like coal, oil and natural gas caused by human activities. Extreme weather events linked to global warming include heat waves, floods and forest fires.
Therefore, natural solutions should focus on combating climate change by investing in Africa’s natural carbon sinks.
By Winnie Ouko
