Kenya has become the first African country to secure $700,000 in UN-backed technical assistance to assess the economic and non-economic damage caused by climate change, after losing its bid to host the Santiago Network secretariat in Nairobi.
Kenya secured the award on the sidelines of the United Nations climate meetings in Bonn, Germany.
The $700,000 package, equivalent to about KSh90 million, will finance a nationwide assessment of the economic and non-economic losses caused by climate change over the past decade.
Most importantly, the findings are expected to strengthen Kenya’s case for future international climate financing by documenting the cost of floods, droughts and other extreme weather events.
Festus Ng’eno, Kenya’s Principal Secretary for Environment and Climate Change, said the decision recognised the country’s “leadership in climate action and its commitment to building resilience against the growing impacts of climate change”.
