The human face of the impact of climate change is dehumanising, yet geopolitics of denial of accountability continues to undermine mitigative, adaptive and resilient initiatives.
The pledge of climate change reparations, officially referred to as compensation for loss and damage, came two days after the official convention closed. But the test of the consensus will be the status review during the 2023 Conference of the Parties in the United Arab Emirates.
Egypt COP27 nursed the consensus for global action in spite of the promise it would be the turning point. The gain, however, restores hope in multilateralism – acting in concert to save the Earth.
The promised financial 'help' to the countries most vulnerable to climate change better come soon, to salvage livelihoods for a generation in peril.
Droughts, floods, massive crop failures, El Niño, La Nina, tsunamis, typhoons, storms, hurricanes, water-related stresses, rising sea levels and excessive heat or cold are not abstract concepts for endless negotiations.
The Africa Status Climate Change Report, which was shared during the climate convention, confounds: About 250 million Africans suffer water-related stresses.
About 700 million Africans could be climate change refugees by 2030. About 1 million climate change-related deaths have been reported over the last 12 months.
These are people living on the precipice. People who have lost livelihoods and struggling to cope in difficult circumstances.
About 5 million Kenyans in 25 counties are surviving on relief food. About 2.5 million livestock have died in Kenya this year alone. These are huge economic losses and damages to livelihoods.
Flora and fauna have not been spared. The ecosystem and related food chain were long thrown off balance. Kenya's wildlife heritage is in danger as climate change destroys ecosystems.
Surviving climate change-related crises means resources reserved for education, health and infrastructure are being diverted to manage the devastation.
People who suffer the brunt of climate change, but who are also the least responsible for the crisis, deserve resilience support from notorious polluters. There should be urgency in consensual action to compensate for losses and damages resulting from a poisoned atmosphere.
The Conference of the Parties to the 1992 United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, which closed in Egypt on Saturday, lacked urgency. The weekend extension for ministerial dialogue to nudge consensus came reluctantly.
The Sharma el Sheikh jamboree, which was billed as the 'COP of Implementation' was rich on promises and pledges, but no agreement in resolute, urgent and dated plan of global action.
The escalators of climate change are industries in developed countries, largely in the North. Victims are poor citizens of the least developed countries, largely in the South. It's always been an international clash, defined by pomp and circumstance, between the polluting Global North, and the victims of the consequences in the Global South.
No one's willing to take responsibility for offsetting the cost of redemption for humanity and the Earth, at least not with the urgency of an emergency.
Three decades of research, reports, discussions, negotiations, promises and pledges have returned a reluctant consensus whose test lies in the speed of releasing compensation money.
How do we move on from here, while waiting for 2023 COP28 in the United Arab Emirates?
Kenya's 47 devolved units, which are the theatres of action, must calibrate climate change mitigation in their county integrated development plans for the 2023-2027 cycle.
Climate change is a global crisis, but remedial actions must be local, planned, deliberate, structured and financed. Climate change is a development challenge for counties.
University lecturer and climate change adviser to the Homa Bay governor
