Mombasa County based environmental activists have criticised the omission of Mombasa and Nairobi Counties in the National Treasury led Financing Locally Led Climate Action Program (FLLOCA).
The activists, led by Mashinani Watch Organisation Executive Director Moffat Mutero stated that Mombasa has had various challenges during prolonged drought and during heavy rains, adding that such funds remain critical in accelerating mitigation measures, to curtail the wrath of climate change.
Apart from hastening the continuous planting of trees in the county, such funding would also help in initiating various programs that will not only mitigate the wrath of climate change but also through the initiatives many youth groups would earn a living.
Speaking in Mombasa on Thursday, Mr Mutero noted that Mombasa County would highly benefit from the program if it would have put down strategies and convince the International environmental players that indeed it is a critical County that requires the funds to aid battling climate change effects.
“We are in great shock and disbelief as key players in the Climate Action Programs that out of the 47 counties across the country, Mombasa and Nairobi Counties will miss the grant funded by the National Treasury under Financing Locally Led Climate Action Program (FLLOCA),” noted Mutero.
Under the Paris Convention, the World Bank, Danida and SIDA funded the Kenyan Government through the National Treasury under FLLOCA program to deliver locally led climate resilience actions and strengthen County and National Government capacity to manage climate risks.
The funding aims at strengthening local resilience to tackle the impact of climate change, natural hazards and other interventions by building local capacity to plan, budget, implement and monitor resilience investments in a way that promotes collaborative partnerships between communities, National and County government.
To do list
For any County Government to be eligible for the funding, there must be a review of the County Climate Change Act and identify gaps in the respective legislations as assessed against National Legislations and International Best Practice.
The County must come up with a policy document that shows a blueprint that defines the goals of the intended climate resilience program.
The County must also allocate a certain percentage budget for the program. For example, 2-3% of the annual budget and the National Treasury will fund the rest through Financing Locally Led Climate Action Program (FLLOCA), as well as develop a Climate Risk Assessment report for the projects. Mombasa County did not meet any of these requirements.
The environmental activist expressed his displeasure on the laxity that led to Mombasa and Nairobi counties being expunged from the critical program which has seen other 45 counties complying and fully being included in the program.
“As the voice of the voiceless we are shocked particularly with Mombasa County which is the epitome of all Blue Economy projects due to its relief. You cannot utter anything on Maritime and Blue Economy without mentioning Mombasa County but where are we in these critical climate action initiatives?” posed the Mashinani Watch community activist.
Mutero, challenged the Mombasa County Government to put more efforts in attaining all the demands so that it can be included in the Financing Locally Led Climate Action Program (FLLOCA)program.
“As non-state actors we ask the Mombasa County Government through Governor Abdulswamad Sharif Nassir, together with his Members of the County Assembly to involve us in case it encounters challenges that may leave it out from important donor funded programs which are of long impact to the development and environmental agenda of the county,” reiterated Mr Mutero.
