The adverse effects of climate change on the economic, social and cultural rights of communities in Kenya either because of natural or man- made factors is gradually being felt with severe consequences anticipated.
Communities in Lamu County which is located along the Indian Ocean just like the rest of the country will not be spared either by the adverse effects of climate change. And with both the oceanic and land natural resources being under aggressive human activity, the demand for infrastructure, housing and food security is on the rise. A lot of the earlier preserved areas are managed by the National Museums and Heritage Act 2006 (that replaced the 1983 National Museums Act CAP 216 and Antiquities and Monuments Act CAP 215).
Big projects on the Island have had the potential to accelerate the adverse impact of climate change on the county and now human encroachment threatens the preservation of the cultural town.
Lamu port is just one of the many activities that are happening in the town; the Lokichar-Lamu crude oil pipeline, the Lamu port access road, the Lamu Coal Plant project is still in the corridors of the justice system and with the focus of the government on expanding investment in the blue economy, a lot will be happening along the Coast including Lamu, with the possibility of increasing human movement to the Island.
With devolution and with communities previously fisher people being pushed into the hinterland, land and related communally protected resources are being converted into human use at an alarming rate. A few years ago, it was only donkeys on the land, then the District Commissioners Land Rover but now several cars including tractors are commonplace.
Commercial farming is now happening obviously as a response to the need for food security. A number of these projects are done without Environmental Impact Assessments, some involve compulsory acquisition of land, where a number of people don’t have title deeds (communal land). This means long processes of compensations- that has seen people moving to the town to reside with relatives- increasing pressure on the old town facilities and destruction of some of the cultural buildings on the Island.
The increasing population to the Island and the growing extraction of natural resources that is happening, fused with a traditional town has obvious dangers. Climate change around the area has also seen drought, migration of fish species and drying of mangrove forests in the county, which has also implicated the survival of the town.
Matters climate change in Kenya are progressively being addressed, achieving targets has been slow at the local communities because of governance and lack of political will at the county level, gradual implementation of the multi-level legal framework is becoming a reality. Aware of the complex nature of dealing with climate change with its attendant effects, and need to involve both the national and county governments in creating a critical mass need for behaviour change, the Climate Change Act 2016 created structures that allow both the two levels of government to have distinct and supplementary roles in managing matters climate change. The country has been implementing the multi-level approach to dealing with climate change issues since 2016, and its now ripe for an audit of the interventions.
Kenya’s Green Growth Economy Strategy and the Blue Economy Strategy paper show the country’s effort to actualize the larger circular economy principle, which is part of SDG 12 to which Kenya is a signatory thus has a responsibility to promote proper natural resource utilization.
With the passing of both the climate change Act 2106 and the Fisheries Management and Development Act 2015 and the subsequent policy frameworks, Kenya has made a statement on her commitment to pursue an economic growth and development model that ensures that natural assets are exploited responsibly.
Additionally, Kenya, has a number of laws that promote green growth and blue economies among them the Environmental Management and Coordination (Amendment) Act 2015, Vision 2030, Energy Act 2012 and Green Economic Strategy and Implementation Plan (GESIP) 2016-2030. Experts note that the Country’s path to the realization of the SDG 12 on responsible consumption and production and promotes the principles of reduce, re-use and recycle and Paris Climate Change Agreement, to which she is a signatory. Groups such as Natural Justice that work to promote sustainable development have cited these laws in the many cases they have gone to court seeking the protection of communal rights for the people of Lamu and other Costal groups.
They are not opposed to development and sustainable use of these resources to improve the lives of the people, but insist that due processes must be followed and the communities compensated or alternative acceptable ways of utilising the resources are implemented. Its an issue of balance and especially protection of indigenous communities.
I am not sure what the Lamu County Government is doing on allocating resources for mitigating adverse impacts of climate change on the communities and the heritage site for the legal framework allows the devolved units to invest in climate change interventions. Given the status of the Lamu Town and the advantages that come with such, its prudent that the county pays special attention to matters climate change and the related destruction to the town, which will see it losing the global status, should the worst happen due to human encroachment. County governments through their County Integrated Development Plans (CIDPs) are required to include climate change as a cross cutting issue and many have a County Executive Member tasked with climate change matters, who must present an annual report to the County Assembly for review.
The Climate Change Act creates the National Climate Change Council to be chaired by the President while the national treasury is tasked with administering a National Climate Change Fund. The Ministry of Environment and Forestry runs climate change governance matters with specific mandate bestowed on the Climate Change Directorate serving as the secretariat.
