WOTE, Kenya, November 26 – The 7th Devolution Conference on Friday recommended the formation of a new Senate committee to monitor county-level climate adaptation measures at the end of a sub-national climate summit in 3 days in Makueni.

The creation of the Senate Climate Action Committee was one of twenty-six resolutions contained in a joint communiqué adopted by conference delegates.

The Devolution Conference, Kenya’s first sub-national climate summit, also recommended an increase in allocations from national and county governments in the 2022-2023 budget cycle to support climate adaptation at the local level.

The statement called for intensified preventive health, planning and risk reduction through an integrated approach encompassing both levels of government.

Additionally, delegates agreed on the need to accelerate joint regulation by the two levels of government to promote investment in renewable energy, a key intervention to defuse global warming.

“Both levels of government need to develop and revise regulations and standards to provide an enabling environment for investments in renewable energy, including clean cooking and e-mobility for sustainable and affordable use of energy,” he said. final document.

Stakeholders are also committed to mainstreaming inclusive and gender sensitive climate action policies, laws, strategies and initiatives.

They called for the establishment of structures to support the achievement of inclusive urban resilience in cities, towns and cities.

The Board of Governors is committed to working with the national government to revise the National Oceans and Fisheries Policy (2008) with the aim of realigning it with the Constitution (2010).

The outcome document was developed through various sectoral sessions, including panels on key thematic areas where delegates and development partners proposed actions to scale up climate action at the subnational level.

In its presentation Thursday, the United Nations Development Program (UNDP) called for sustained efforts to mobilize resources to finance locally-led disaster risk management to prevent climate-induced disasters.

In remarks at a panel discussion on climate change and risk management, UNDP Resident Representative in Kenya, Walid Badawi, proposed a multi-pronged approach to fund mitigation actions at the local level where he noted that coping mechanisms are most needed.

“Kenya has been relatively successful in attracting international finance for climate change to Africa, but it falls short of the figure of $ 62 billion that has been projected to achieve a 32% reduction in greenhouse gas emissions. greenhouse, ”Badawi said.

In a virtual speech at the opening ceremony of the conference on Wednesday, President Uhuru Kenyatta revealed that Kenya is committed to reducing its greenhouse gas emissions by 32% by 2030, in as part of its commitments at the COP 26 climate summit in Glasgow.

“It will cost 6,874 billion shillings (US $ 62 billion). Of this, Kenya will mobilize 13% from domestic sources, while we plan to finance the remaining 87% from external sources,” he said. -he explains.

Badawi, who praised Kenya’s commitment, said UNDP was working directly with counties to strengthen disaster risk reduction while urging decentralized units to take the necessary steps to mainstream disaster risk reduction into communities. respective budgets.

“Strong funding for disaster risk reduction really helps, and while international finance is the key, its only catalyst. Integrating DRR into local budgeting is a more sustainable solution, ”he said.

The resident representative noted that climate finance is a key enabler of climate adaptation without which climate adaptation commitments and targets cannot be achieved.

He said UNDP wanted to implement a whole-of-society approach with the aim of mitigating risks and ensuring sustainable development.

The donor task force on decentralization called for locally-led interventions to support climate change adaptation and protect rural communities from adverse effects.

The chairman of the task force, Denmark’s envoy to Kenya Amb Ole Thonke said on Wednesday that county governments must play a leading role in formulating adaptation measures even as the national government joins to global efforts to mitigate climate change.

“For me, if we’re talking about climate change mitigation, it requires a global solution, but climate adaptation requires local solutions. This is where the counties come in, ”Amb Thonke said.

He noted that several countries were already experiencing the impact of climate change, in particular a prolonged drought due to insufficient rains.

“It is in the counties that the impact of climate change is felt; citizens suffer either because there is no water for the animals or because their crops do not grow because there is too little rain, ”noted the Danish diplomat.

Thonke is committed to mobilizing donor support to improve the response to climate change at the county level.

“The message we are sending is that as development partners, we are right behind you. Climate change is a high priority for all of us and we will devote more funds in the future to climate change, ”he said.

He singled out the World Bank-funded climate action initiative called Locally Led Climate Action Finance (FLLoCA) which is expected to be launched later Wednesday among key interventions by international partners.