Climate change adaptation philanthropy is yet to make baby steps.
When victims of climate change hear of adaptation financing, they consider money taps would flow down from the North. The 'aid' perception rarely takes a South-South trajectory.
Some corporations have limited their interventions to tree planting, or relief food distribution. The do-gooders mute once cameras blunt.
It is not that Kenyans are thin on wealth. They are thin on climate change adaptation philanthropy. The Africa Wealth Report 2022 shows Kenya has 8,500 dollar millionaires. About 59 per cent of wealth-hoarders are players in Nairobi's Central Business District.
Most high-net-worth individuals may not understand the vulnerabilities of the millions of Kenyans who feed their investments. The wealthy rarely receive night calls from villagers who don't have water to drink or food to cook.
The wealthy don't know or don't care. Ignorance and greed create satanic callousness. Everyone for themselves and God for us all.
The wealthy operate from the city's high-end business sub-districts and then retire to their ‘mbwa kali’ mansions in Muthaiga, Gigiri and Karen.
Hope for humanity-for-humanity, however, should not be lost. There are corporates and individuals who care. Equity Bank's philanthropy, especially around education, is on record.
The bank has transformed bright children from poor families into responsible citizens and breadwinners for their communities. Equity's educational scholarship fund, Wings to Fly, a transformative initiative, gives hope to philanthropy.
Education, Wings to Fly has shown, is a universal equaliser. Needy top-tier candidates have had education in premier schools, and then moved on to reputable international universities.
Equity Bank also seeks to promote nature and climate-smart solutions. This area invites more players to make a positive difference to vulnerable communities.
Equity Bank, then, should follow up on its December 11, 2022, public advertisement to reaffirm its commitment to climate change mitigation, adaptation, and resilience.
The one-page advertisement sought to expedite applications for climate change mitigation and adaptation partnerships in seven areas. The areas included their Ecomoto programme that finances cooking and lighting solutions.
The initiative, the advert says, has reached 363,701 households, with life-changing impact on 1.5 million people. The clean energy initiative seeks to reduce the volume of carbon dioxide being released into the atmosphere daily.
The advert also sought partnerships in environmental conservation. It showed the bank's commitment to planting 35 million tree seedlings by 2024. It says the bank has, so far, planted 21.1 million tree seedlings countrywide.
Boosting circular economy is also covered in the bank's corporate initiative for climate change adaptation. It seeks to finance and provide linkages to partners to facilitate waste management and the reduction of greenhouse gases.
Providing technical support and financing to farmers to adopt climate-smart agriculture, and championing transition to clean energy to secure the environment and improve health outcomes are covered in the call for partnership.
The advertisement, published three months ago, was a philanthropic declaration of purpose. The bank, however, should know applicants, left holding tracking codes, are yet to get official feedback.
This, in spite of telephone calls and visits to 'nearest' Equity Bank branches. In some cases, bank branch managers do not know about the advertisement.
