World Bank gives Kenya Sh16b to support climate change action

Brian Oruta, NAIROBI Kenya

Kenya is set to receive Sh16 billion from the World Bank, to support National Climate Change Action Plan.

The World Bank Board of Directors approved the funding to strengthen local resilience.

This was done through Financing Locally-led Climate Action programme.

Speaking during the approval of the agreement, Treasury CS Secretary Ukur Yatani said climate change remains the biggest challenge.

He said Kenya's climate sensitive economy is prone to drought and floods, and this affects about 2.8 per cent of the GDP annually.

"As a nation, we remain cognisant of the challenges that lie ahead but remain confident that with the support of the World Bank and other development partners." he said.

"We will build our national and counties' capacities to manage climate risk and enhance our resilience with home grown solutions in a collaborative and progressive approach, between the two levels of government, but more importantly owned and driven by local communities."

The financing agreement is between Kenya, the World Bank, the Government of Sweden (Sida) and the Government of Denmark (Danida), as well as other development partners.

The FLLoCA programme will be led by the Treasury and implemented over a period of five years.

The programme will help equip communities  with required resources to predict, prepare and respond to climatic shocks.

On Tuesday, President Uhuru Kenyatta cautioned that in the absence of urgent climate change adaptation action, Africa's Gross Domestic Product risks contracting by up to 30 percent by the year 2050.

In a video address at a hybrid conference hosted by the University of Nairobi in partnership with the Global Centre on Adaptation, Uhuru called on the global community to support the accelerated roll out of adaptation programmes in Africa, to mitigate against the growing adverse effects of climate change and strengthen the continent's resilience.

"Evidence indicates that climate change will have a devastating socioeconomic impact across the world and quite severely in Africa. If we do not take any action Africa could, as a consequence, see its GDP contract by up to 30 percent by 2050 due to climate change," he said.