Evidence suggests that cities suited to building climate change resilience avoid cyclical political stalemates and achieve situations where national, county governments can work together quickly and effectively to implement policies and programmes. In some cases, the decentralization of decision-making and political control creates conflicts and delays between agencies, hampering the development of climate resilient programming, yet equally, while heavily top-down decision-making structures can help to implement programmes quickly, they often fail to allow participation of those people they are designed to help. Consequently, a balance must be struck between the need to build climate resilience rapidly and the need to avoid maladaptation by ensuring marginalized voices and climate science agencies contribute to the process of decision-making, planning and implementation.
We carry out lobbying and advocacy for a government committed to maintaining a relationship of accountability to its citizens and openness in terms of financial management in key ‘climate sensitive’ sectors, such as waste, water and disaster risk reduction, urban planning and pro-poor service provision.
We advocate for a legislation and administrative system, which supports the right to information, must be in place to facilitate access to investigative or grievance procedures in cases where vulnerability to climate change has been increased. Independent, informed local media, with journalists who are interested in climate change, helps to hold county authorities to account, pressurises the political leadership to advance policies, and highlights the issues with citizens.
We amplify our voices for enhanced Participation and Inclusion (P&I) refers to the governance arrangements that enhance or preclude the participation of all citizens in decision-making, monitoring and evaluation. This refers in particular to the groups of citizens most vulnerable to prevailing climate shocks and stresses, including those in informal settlements. Adaptive governance requires constructive engagement with between local governments and pro-poor civil society groups who are most at risk.
With the capacity to work closely with communities, to fully understand needs and priorities and to facilitate participatory approaches the CSOs under can strengthen service provision, environmental management and the livelihoods of the most vulnerable people, crucial to building their resilience, as well as that of the cities’ infrastructure, to extreme climatic events.
We lobby both county and national governments to invest in programmes that support community to adapt the effect of climate change and address its related emergencies and disasters.
Other activities include:
1. Lobbying for the mainstreaming of climate change responses into development planning, decision making and implementation in line with the National Climate Change Act, 2016
2. Participate in formulation of programs and plans to enhance the resilience and adaptive capacity of human and ecological systems to the impacts of climate change.
3. Promote low carbon technologies, improve efficiency and reduce emissions intensity by facilitating approaches and uptake of technologies that support low carbon ,climate resilient development.(Nakuru Clean Energy Policy & Clean Energy Action Plan 2016 in Collaboration with KAM).