By Ken Muthomi - Reporter
Kenya, June 10, 2026 - Kenya has become the first country in Africa and the second globally to secure technical assistance from the Santiago Network on Loss and Damage, strengthening the country's efforts to boost climate resilience and address the growing impacts of climate change.
The support package, valued at approximately USD 700,000 (about Sh90 million), will enable the country to undertake a comprehensive assessment of climate-related loss and damage and project the potential impacts up to 2050.
The support was communicated to the Principal Secretary for Environment and Climate Change, Festus Ng’eno, by Elizabeth Carabine, Deputy Director, Santiago Network Secretariat, during a meeting in Bonn, Germany.
According to the National Environment Management Authority (NEMA), the assessment will provide critical evidence to inform policy, planning, and resource mobilization to curb climate-related loss and damage.
“This will help to guide current and future interventions to reduce the increasing and worsening impacts related to loss and damage in the country,” NEMA stated.
“This will also provide critical evidence to inform policy, planning, and resource mobilization aimed at strengthening the country's resilience to climate impacts,” it added.
The Santiago Network is a UN-backed initiative established in 2019 to catalyse technical assistance for developing countries that are particularly vulnerable to the adverse effects of climate change.
The network helps countries avert, minimize, and address loss and damage associated with climate-related events such as floods, droughts, heatwaves, and rising sea levels.
It helps countries identify, minimize, and manage climate-change risks by connecting them with experts, NGOs, and specialized organizations.
Kenya's selection for the technical assistance programme comes as the country continues to experience increasingly severe climate impacts, including prolonged droughts, devastating floods, and changing weather patterns that threaten livelihoods, food security, and infrastructure.
To address climate change, the government is ramping up efforts to ensure that greenhouse gas emissions are reduced by 32% by 2030 and 35% reduction by 2035.
To achieve these targets, the Ministry of Environment, Climate Change, and Forestry is currently spearheading reforms in environmental policies, while county governments are managing grassroots adaptation projects.
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