Counties to get Sh7.4b grants for climate action

President William Ruto makes his remarks during the official opening of the Africa Climate Summit in Nairobi on September 4, 2023. [PCS]

Counties are set to receive Sh7.387 billion climate resilience investment grants from the Financing Locally-Led Climate Action (FLLoCA) Programme.

The money is a major step up, coming after a total of Sh979 million institutional strengthening grants were disbursed to counties in the last financial year.

The Sh7.387 billion will be shared amongst the 44 counties that met FLLoCA minimum performance conditions, with each receiving a share based on its performance score.

President William Ruto, who handed over the Sh7 billion cheque to the counties, said the programme was in line with his Bottom-Up Economic Transformation Agenda as it aimed at bringing about change through the grassroots.

"FLLoCA resonates with my vision in that the programme has moved from pilots to scale, targeting communities across Kenya; and has done so working through our own public financial management systems and offered a platform for coordinating and crowding in multiple development partners," said the President.

He added that the programme also views "communities not just as victims of climate change but as powerful agents" in responding to the impacts of climate change and that it has also a focus on community led climate action.

To be eligible for funding counties had to put in place county climate finance institutions such as a County Climate Change Fund, County Climate Change Unit and carry out a participatory climate risk assessment and action planning at the ward level.

Another important condition was for counties to devote 1.5 per cent of their development towards the County Climate Change Fund. This has seen counties allocate a total of Sh3 billion in the current financial year.

The programme is managed by the National Treasury working closely with the Ministry of Environment, Climate Change and Forestry and Council of Governors.

"We believe that meaningful change begins at the grassroots level, and this is why we are committed to involving communities in the decision-making process," said National Treasury Cabinet Secretary Njuguna Ndung'u.