Kenya Green Champions

Kenya Green Champions for Climate Resilience

Kenya Green Champions for Climate Resilience is a multi-stakeholder youth-led project that provides technical assistance to County Governments (both the county executives and county assemblies) and community-based social sector actors to co-create conducive and participatory legal reforms and multi-agenda integration mechanisms that facilitate the mainstreaming of climate risks and opportunities in the investment decision and budget making process at the community and county levels.

This locally-led led civic engagement project on climate resilience anchors its motivation and actions on various provisions of the Kenya's Constitution and relevant statutes, appreciating the fact that:

  • (i) Article 42: Guarantees every citizen the right to a clean and healthy environment, obligating legislative and administrative measures for environmental protection.
  • (ii) Article 43: Affirms the right to social protection, complimented by the Fourth Schedule, which designates counties as responsible to disaster management.
  • (iii) Our rigorous assessments of most County Climate Change Acts show that the Acts acknowledge the need to enhance community resilience and integrate climate action into planning. However, they omit critical frameworks for:

  • (a) Operationalizing low-carbon development pathways
  • (b) Mainstreaming climate considerations into sectoral budgeting and planning
  • (c) Development of Spatially Enabled Multi Hazard Early Warning Systems.
  • (d) Enhancing resilience of communities and natural systems to climate change.

An evidence-driven green economy provides critical developmental insights that empower policy makers, businesses, development partners, and communities to foster better counties. Moreover, GSI aims to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and mitigate the adverse impacts of climate change, contributing to the achievement of our Nationally Determined Contributions (NDC) towards low-emission, climate-resilient pathways.

The project will empower the county governments to establish resilient mechanisms/platforms for mobilizing resources for county development projects, providing advisory services, and creating strategic partnerships aimed at ensuring coordinated green growth and sustainable development within the counties.

Under the theme “Empowered Green Champions for Climate Resilience Legal Reforms and Multi-agenda Integration”, the project is to be implemented along three action pathways:

  • (i) Ward Green Championship
  • (ii) Nature-positive County Development Authorities
  • (iii) County Climate Resilience Forums.