Interior Principal Secretary Raymond Omollo speaks during the summit in Addis on September 10, 2025/XKenya has unveiled a bold, community-driven model for tackling climate change and its security risks at the Second African Climate Summit (ACS-2) in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.
Speaking at the Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD) exhibition booth Interior Security Principal Secretary Raymond Omollo, said climate change must be viewed not only as an environmental issue but also as a threat to human security, economic stability, and peace.
“Climate crisis is the definitive security challenge of our time, threatening livelihoods, fueling conflicts over scarce resources, destabilizing economies, and undermining peace within and across our borders,” Omollo told delegates.
He highlighted Kenya’s flagship National Climate Change Security Resilience Programme (NCCSRP), which integrates climate adaptation with grassroots governance.
Under the initiative, more than 4,000 chiefs and assistant chiefs spearhead local climate action through the monthly Chiefs Climate Action Day.
In less than a year, communities have planted over 114 million trees, mobilized two million citizens, and distributed 6.4 million seedlings, with a 60 percent survival rate, all without external financing.
“Community-driven action works, and with the right investment, it can be scaled across the IGAD region and the continent,” Omollo said.
He underscored that climate action at the grassroots is also helping prevent conflicts linked to dwindling resources, as administrators mediate disputes and use climate intelligence to support early warning and rapid response.
Kenya has partnered with IGAD and ICPAC to train officers in climate, peace, and security, while also rolling out digital tools such as a real-time USSD reporting platform to track local progress.
Omollo urged governments, development partners, and the private sector to channel resources into grassroots climate leadership, stressing that real change will be won “in our villages, farms, rangelands, and forests.”
“Financing climate-security solutions at the community level yields triple dividends, peace, resilience, and green growth,” he said.
This, as he reaffirmed Kenya’s commitment to work with regional and global partners to build a resilient and sustainable Africa.
