President Uhuru Kenyatta has asked the world to remain committed to the Paris Agreement on climate change,
which gave hope to some of the most vulnerable countries.
The President said his Cabinet has
already approved the ratification of the agreement
and now awaits the final ratification from Parliament.
“I urge other parties that have not yet ratified the agreement to do so,” Uhuru said, pointing out that the implementation of the agreement will benefit present and future generations.
He issued an address in Marrakech, Morocco, to
a high-level segment of
the first climate change conference 'for action', after the historic Paris Agreement last year.
Delegations from 190 countries, including more than 100 leaders, attended the session.
The President welcomed the coming into force of the Paris Agreement, saying it will provide the much-needed impetus to address climate change for a safer future.
“This universal agreement is the beginning of renewed, transparent, enhanced, global, ambitious action and support to address the challenge of climate change in the short and long terms,” said Uhuru.
“We should aim to ensure achievement of the long-term global goal of stabilising the global temperature increase to below 1.5 degrees Celsius above the preindustrial levels, which gives hope to the most vulnerable countries and communities.”
The President appreciated the agreement’s linkages to the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), that include ending extreme poverty, fighting inequality and injustice, and taking urgent action to combat climate change and its impacts.
Uhuru emphasised the need to synchronise the implementation processes of the Paris Agreement on climate change and the SDGs.
He said the development of the rulebook to guide the implementation must keep in focus its objective, principles and provisions of the convention, including equity and common but differentiated responsibilities, and respective capabilities.
The President said the rulebook must also ensure parity between mitigation and adaptation, taking into consideration the increased burden for adaptation in developing countries.
“The process should also take into consideration the obligations of developed country parties to provide additional, predictable and sustainable support in terms of finance, technology and capacity building to meet the adaptation and mitigation needs of the developing country parties,” he said.
Noting that climate change continues to adversely impact Kenya’s socio-economic sectors, Uhuru said the country has made its contribution to combating environmental challenges.
“Kenya submitted an ambitious, intended and nationally determined contribution within the context of the pre-2020 ambition and the Paris Agreement, even though our contribution is a mere 0.1 per cent of the total global emission,” he said.
Uhuru informed the conference that Kenya now has a Climate Change Act and a National Adaptation Plan (NAP) that were developed through multi-stakeholder engagement and contribute to the national implementation of the Paris Agreement.
The two build on the foundation laid down by the National Climate Change Action Plan (2013-2017), through a comprehensive and inclusive process.
“The Act strengthens climate change governance, institutional arrangements, and mainstreaming of climate change into sectoral planning, budgeting and implementation at all levels of government,” the President said.
To build resilience and enhance adaptive capacities to the impacts of climate change, Uhuru said Kenya’s national adaptation plan contains sector strategic adaptation actions for each planning sector, taking into account that all sectors are vulnerable to climate change.
The country’s domestic measures and actions to address climate change include expansion in geothermal, solar, wind and other renewable and clean energy options.
Uhuru said Kenya has also made progress in achieving and maintaining a tree cover of at least 10 per cent of the country’s land, while encouraging low carbon and efficient transportation systems.