The eight North Rift counties have developed a region-wide ecosystem oriented Climate Change Action Plan in a process coordinated by the National Council of Churches of Kenya and the North Rift Economic Bloc (NOREB).
The drafting of the Climate Change Action Plan was completed during a three-day forum that brought together Chief Officers and Directors responsible for environment and climate change dockets in the eight NOREB counties.
The counties that comprise NOREB are Baringo, Elgeyo Marakwet, Nandi, Samburu, Trans Nzoia, Turkana, Uasin Gishu and West Pokot. They have as a region suffered major climate change impacts that are compounded by intra and inter-county insecurity.
“Conservation and restoration of the environment in this region, coupled with mitigation of climate change impacts, will radically improve the quality of life of our people and even end the persistent resource-based conflicts,” Dr Godfrey Chesang, the Chief Executive Officer of NOREB remarked. He urged the Chief Officers and Directors, who were accompanied by NOREB and NCCK staff, to be comprehensive when recommending actions to transform the lives of the residents.
On her part, Phyllis Kamau-Kiarie, the Programmes Director of NCCK, observed that real climate change mitigation and adaptation can only be achieved through locally-led initiatives. “Every man, woman, youth and child must play their part in actively protecting and restoring the environment. It is these individual actions that will accumulate to a betterment of the lives of all households.”
Phyllis commended the North Rift Region counties for the commitment to jointly address the impact of climate change. “The county-specific climate change actions are commendable, but only an ecosystem approach will achieve the aspirations of the local wananchi“, she pointed out.
The Climate Change Action Plan development forum was supported by the Dan Church Aid (DCA) through the Uwazi na Maendeleo Mashinani project.
The Climate Change Action Plan has been shared with the County Executive Committee members of the NOREB counties in readiness for validation and implementation.
