By Contributor
Environment, Climate Change and Forestry Cabinet Secretary Aden Duale has said that adaptation to the worsening effects of climate change is the top most priority for Kenya locally and internationally.
He said recent cyclic episodes of devastating droughts and floods were a pointer to an urgent need to strengthen the resilience of Kenyan communities, infrastructure and landscapes to climate change.
Duale spoke Thursday at a Nairobi hotel during the opening session of the Consultative Forum of Africa Green Climate Finance National Designated Authorities(AFDAN).
The two-day meeting, hosted by The National Treasury, brought together delegates from over 20 African countries to explore opportunities for deepening climate change financing in Africa.
Besides adaptation, Hon. Duale said Kenya was keenly pursuing climate change mitigation through various interventions including the Kenya Kwanza administration’s flagship 15 Billion National Tree Growing Programme.
“My ministry is spearheading the 15 Billion National Tree Growing Programme to safeguard our catchment areas and enhance resilience, alongside other pivotal initiatives to promote climate action through carbon markets,” Duale told the delegates that included members of the diplomatic community and representatives of Kenya’s development partners.
This morning, I joined former Prime Minister @RailaOdinga, colleague Cabinet Secretaries John Mbadi (Treasury) and @WahomeHon (Lands) at the opening of the Africa Green Climate Finance National Designated Authorities Network (AFDAN) forum in Nairobi.
Hosted by The National… pic.twitter.com/iOQijQVzyn
— Hon. Aden Duale, EGH (@HonAdenDuale) August 22, 2024
The Cabinet Secretary said his Ministry was accelerating the integration of climate change into all sectors of the Kenyan economy in line with the Government’s Bottom-Up Economic Transformation Agenda (BETA).
In reference to the agenda of the meeting, Duale said Kenya looked forward to the meeting’s outcomes specifically on climate financing and building climate change resilience for the continent’s highly vulnerable urban poor populations.
“I am proud of the two Kenya-led initiatives that will be discussed today: Building Climate Resilience of the Urban Poor (BCURP)and Financing Locally-Led Climate Action (FLOCCA).
“These programs aim to develop and implement infrastructure and social programs to build resilience among our most vulnerable populations, including children, the elderly, women, and people with disabilities,” Hon. Duale noted.
"My ministry is spearheading the 15 Billion National Tree Growing Programme to safeguard our catchment areas and enhance resilience, alongside other pivotal initiatives to promote climate action through carbon markets," Hon. Duale told the delegates 6/7 pic.twitter.com/f4JwIu5idg
— Ministry of Environment, Climate Change & Forestry (@Environment_Ke) August 22, 2024
Other speakers at the opening session were Kenya’s former premier the Raila Odinga and Cabinet Secretaries John Badi (National Treasury) and Alice Wahome (Lands) as well as Climate Envoy Ali Mohamed who is also the Chairperson of the African Group of Negotiators on Climate Change (AGN).
