The Youth Café To Be A Panelist In The 7th Annual Devolution Conference 2021 | Mobilization In Unlocking The Full Potential Of Climate Action

The United Nations defines climate change as the increasing frequency and the intensity of extreme weather events such as heatwaves, droughts, floods and tropical cyclones, aggravating water management problems, reducing agricultural production and food security, increasing health risks, damaging critical infrastructure and interrupting the provision of basic services such as water and sanitation, education, energy and transport. 

Climate action refers to the stepped-up efforts towards reducing greenhouse gas emissions and strengthening resilience and adaptive capacity to climate-induced impacts, including climate-related hazards in all countries; integrating measures into national policies, strategies and planning; and improving education, awareness-raising and human and institutional capacity for climate change mitigation, adaptation, impact reduction and early warning according to the United Nations. 

The Climate action agenda is taking momentum and nations in September 2019 congregated in New York City for the United Nations Climate Action Summit (CAS), for the Member States to deliberate on how to mobilize new partnerships, resources and actions that were geared towards robust national government commitments ahead of the 2019 UN Climate Change Conference (COP 25) and support new and existing sub-National climate ambition in line with the Paris Agreement.

There is indeed a great need for subnational Governments to have discussions on how they will undertake deliberate action to protect the citizens from the impact of climate change. 

The impacts and effects of climate change in recent years have had effects on planning and delivery of services by governments to its people. Particular effects have been observed in people living with disabilities, vulnerable groups in the society, marginalized communities in developing countries, women and children.

The United Nations has particularly pronounced itself on this and has endorsed the rights and privileges of Persons With Disabilities (PWDs) in climate action. As countries take deliberate efforts in taking specific actions for the PWDs they also need to ensure that the vulnerable groups in their population are also considered and ensure this is done using gender lenses. 

As Africa gears itself in taking action, Kenya has demonstrated leadership in climate action in different ways. Firstly, the country has mapped 498 pro-poor urban areas across the country, and with its biggest wind power plant in Africa, an output of 310MW of clean and reliable electricity the biggest station in Turkana County.

The Government of Kenya has also imposed a total ban on use, manufacture and importation of plastic bags as a way of mitigating the effects they cause to the environment. More importantly, Kenya’s development and enactment of the Climate Change Act (2016), which provides for the development and implementation of a five-year National Climate Change Action Plan (NCCAP).

At the sub-national level, efforts have been put in place with a view to address climate change impacts including the mainstreaming of climate change in the second generation County Integrated development Plans (CIDPs) and the Medium Term Plan (MTP III) as required in the Climate Change Act, 2016.

46 County Governments have already designated County Executive Committee Members responsible for climate change to coordinate climate change affairs in the counties; and at least five (5) counties have developed climate change policies while three (3) counties have developed climate action plans. Besides, seven (7) counties have developed climate change fund regulations to support local financing of climate action.

Whereas, counties are making strides towards addressing the issue of climate change, there are challenges that are being experienced at the sub-national level including funding. The county equitable share is limited hence most counties have not set aside a percentage of development budget towards climate change initiatives.

In terms of capacity building, counties lack expertise/knowledge on climate change adaptation and mitigation to support local resilience building, and also poor coordination between National and County governments in design and development of climate action initiatives.

It is imperative for the subnational Governments to discuss and deliberate on these issues among others and their mobilization in unlocking the full potential of climate action. The willingness of County Governments in Kenya to take action has been building momentum and their commitment was demonstrated through their participation in the Climate Action Summit.

Through the Council, Kenya’s subnational Governments represented the country in sessions on Local Leadership for Climate: Solutions to the Climate Emergency. They committed to partner and share experiences with other Countries on how to climate action at subnational levels. It will also promote conversations and commitments in ensuring that the country is on track in achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) by 2030.

The Annual Devolution Conference is an important event as it provides a platform through which all stakeholders in the devolution space evaluate the performance of both levels of governments on matters of policy, legislation, accountability, good governance, and service delivery among others. It also provides an opportunity for sharing challenges, opportunities and best practices from a local and international perspective.

Kenya is one of the member states of the United Nations and it has committed itself to take urgent action to develop ambitious solutions in Global transition to renewable energy, Sustainable and resilient infrastructures and cities, Sustainable agriculture and management of forests and oceans, Resilience and adaptation to climate impacts; and Alignment of public and private finance with a net-zero economy. 

Climate change poses a critical threat to future development, particularly in developing countries where food security, water scarcity ,urban poverty, high unemployment, increased industrialization activities and low access to quality healthcare is widespread and key assets such as infrastructure are underdeveloped for even current needs.

Kenya is bearing the brunt of climate change impacts and the associated socio-economic losses. The imperative to tackle climate change becomes ever more urgent with each passing day as the situation is exacerbated by the high dependence on climate-sensitive natural resources. The use of fossil fuels for combustion for both domestic and commercial has detrimental effects to the environment where some lead to acid rains.

There is a need therefore to have a discussion and formulate workable strategies geared towards renewable sources of energy such as bio gas to deter some of these effects. 

Given the challenges being experienced due to changes in climatic conditions occasioned by human activity and environmental degradation, the 7th Annual Devolution Conference is geared towards looking at the role of sub-National governments in climate action. The sub-National levels of government have a critical role to play as far as climate action is concerned as they operate at the local level where the greatest impacts are felt by the communities.

This, therefore, calls for a platform for sub-national levels of Government to discuss, share and develop a strategy together with the National Government and other relevant stakeholders on addressing climate change.

The 7th Annual Devolution Conference that was scheduled to be held from 23rd – 26th August 2021 in Makueni County has been postponed to a later date due to the COVID-19 restrictions. The last six conferences have focused on various issues with a key focus on the devolution journey, the space of National and County Governments in the implementation of the Big Four Agenda and reviewing its implementation.

The 7th Annual Devolution Conference will focus on Climate Action, in particular, the impact and the role of sub-national Governments in Climate Action. The Youth Café will be participating in the Peace and Cohesion break away session programme where the theme of the session will be; Prevention and Management of Climate Change Instigated Conflicts: Collaborative Responses.

The objective of this session is to interrogate  strategies that can be adopted by Kenya and organizations such as The Youth Café to mitigate and manage conflicts arising from climate change impacts.    

The focus on climate action has been necessitated by the adverse impact of climate change in socio-economic development in Kenya. This has resulted in poor living conditions in some areas, occurrence of floods, drought, unregulated release of industrial wastes and increased burden on health. National and County Governments have a responsibility in ensuring that these issues are dealt with and that the population is food secure, there is use of natural resources sustainably, provision of affordable and quality healthcare, job opportunities are created and sustainable waste management employed both by government and private sector. 

The conference will be critical in ensuring that sub-national Governments both local, regional and across the globe have a platform to discuss and deliberate on their role and how they can unlock opportunities to turn around the effects of climate change in the communities. Given the increasing nature-related hazards like floods, landslides among others facing Kenyans, it is time we see concerted actions to legislate, fund and enforce climate-smart strategies and reduce greenhouse gas emissions at sub-national and national levels. 

The overall objective of the conference is Strengthening Sub-national governments to act on climate change and develop stronger mitigation capacities. More specifically, it will enable County Governments to demonstrate bold climate leadership, deliberate on the impact of climate change mitigation measures and how to strengthen Kenya’s capacity to develop a GHG inventory.

The conference will also provide a platform for government and private sector to commit on climate action strategies to be undertaken for the next year, and mobilize two million trees to be planted in the host county before and during the conference. 

To share best practice across the country, regionally and globally on climate action strategies being undertaken by subnational governments and how they can unlock the full potential of climate action. A final communique will be developed and signed by the key stakeholders for implementation in the next year.

The conference shall adopt the dialogue approach through panel discussions followed by plenary engagements. This will be achieved through the use of both general plenary sessions and side events to discuss various climate action agendas while mainstreaming issues of the Big 4.

To have robust engagements, the Council of Governors seeks to invite representatives of County Governments, National Government institutions, Civil Society Organizations, media, religious institutions, sub-national Governments from Africa and other regions, development partners, academia, private sector practitioners and other Governments that have a devolved system of government similar to Kenya. This approach will facilitate the exchange of experiences and potential learning from each other and provide a platform to come up with practical solutions that can be employed to achieve the key objectives.

The Council will engage possible partners from National Government, Development partners and Non-State Actors. Representatives of development partners and the private sector will be encouraged as a follow up to the conference to identify ways to partner on implementation of the agreed actions, in the form of specific knowledge exchange among participants, capacity building or technical cooperation.

The Youth Café is honored to have been invited  in its capacity as a youth-led and youth serving organization to be a panelist on the Peace and Cohesion break away session with a specific theme of Prevention and Management of Climate Change Instigated Conflicts: Collaborative Responses. We look forward to attending the conference when the date is set!

The Youth Café works with young men and women around Africa as a trailblazer in advancing youth-led approaches toward achieving sustainable development, social equity, innovative solutions, community resilience and transformative change.

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