Devolving Climate Change Governance in Kwale County, Kenya
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Devolving climate change governance in Kwale County, Kenya Devolution of climate change guide Devolving climate change Devolving climate change governance in Kwale County, Kenya Devolvinggovernance climate in Kwale change County, Kenya Devolution of climate change guide Devolution of climate change guide governance in Kwale County, Kenya Devolution of climate change guide The Vertical Integration and Learning for Low-emission Development in Africa and Asia (V-LED) project is implemented between 2015 and 2019 in Kenya, Philippines, South Africa and Vietnam. It is led by adelphi in partnership with the Institute for Law and Environ- mental Governance, UN Habitat, One World Sustainable Invest- ments, and Sustainable Energy Africa. The project and this publication are supported by the German Federal Ministry of the Environment, Nature Conversation and Nuclear Safety (BMU) as part of its International Climate Initiative. Publisher: Institute for Law and Environmental Governance (ILEG) Wood Road, Off Wood Avenue – Kilimani P. O. Box 9561-00100 Nairobi, Kenya www.ilegkeny, a.org Authors: Grace W. Ngaruiya, Francis Oremo, Benson Ochieng Suggested citation: Ngaruiya, Grace; Francis Oremo; Benson Ochieng 2018: Devolving climate change governance in Kwale County, Kenya. Devolution of climate change guide. Nairobi: ILEG. Acknowledgements: The authors wish to thank Ms. Lenice Ojwang, Research Scientist & Programme Manager at CORDIO East Africa for providing expert input to this document. Place and Date of Publication: Nairobi, November 2018 Disclaimer: The analysis, results and recommendations in this study represent the opinions of the authors and are not necessarily representative of the position of any of the organisations listed above. FOREWORD The Climate Change Act 2016 is the principal legal framework for climate gov- ernance in Kenya. It provides a framework for climate change resilience and low carbon development. The responsibility now falls on county governments to develop their own mechanisms for mainstreaming climate change in their sectoral policies and plans. This climate governance guide for Kwale County clarifies the role of county gov- ernments in managing climate change at the local level. It seeks to simplify cli- mate change terminology as well as give practical methods for enhancing knowl- edge transfer between different stakeholders. The guide is intended to serve as a reference for sustainable resource planning and a basis for the training of relevant stakeholders on local climate change issues. We, the people of Kenya – Respectful of the environment; which is our heritage and determined to sustain it for the benefit of future generations - The Constitution of Kenya, 2010 CONTENTS CONTENTS 4 LIST OF FIGURES 5 LIST OF TABLES 5 1.0 INTRODUCTION 6 2.0 CLIMATE CHANGE IN KWALE COUNTY 8 2.1Climate planning strategic sectors in Kwale County 10 3.0 CLIMATE CHANGE GOVERNANCE 16 4.0 PILLARS FOR EFFECTIVE CLIMATE GOVERNANCE 18 5.0 MANDATES AND FUNCTIONS IN A DEVOLVED SYSTEM 21 5.1 What is devolution? 21 5.2 Role of Kenyan national government in climate governance 25 5.3 Climate change governance at the county level 28 5.4 Citizen’s space in climate change governance 30 5.5 Creating actor networks for efficient knowledge transfer 32 6.0 PROCESSES AND ACTIVITIES THAT ENHANCE CLIMATE GOVERNANCE 33 7.0 MONITORING AND EVALUATION PLAN 34 8.0. Marine Ecosystems/Coastal zones 36 Vulnerability and Impact 36 Policies and Laws 38 GLOSSARY 42 REFERENCES 44 4 LIST OF FIGURES Figure 1: Map of Kwale County showing the constituencies and wards 7 Figure 2: Update of Kenya’s Emission Baseline Projections and Impact on NDC Target GoK, 2017 9 Figure 3: The four main pillars of climate governance 17 Figure 4: Connections between people and their government representatives 22 Figure 5: Climate change institutional coordination structures in the Climate Change Act, 2016 (Source: adopted from National Adaptation Plan, 2015) 25 Figure 6: Illustration of the components of a social network. 32 LIST OF TABLES Table 1: County electoral wards by Constituency (GoK, 2013) 8 Table 2: Functions of the county assembly and county executive 21 Table 3: List of functions for the two levels of government in Kenya 23 Table 4: Simplified List of functions for the two levels of government in Kenya 24 Table 5: Description of climate governance duties for county governments 29-30 Table 6: Understanding the citizen space 30 Table 7: Sample of a monitoring and evaluation template 35 Table 8. Services provided by coastal and marine ecosystems 37 Table 9. Key threats to Kenyan coastal and marine ecosystems 38 5 1.0 INTRODUCTION Devolution is the centre-piece of the Constitution of Kenya (2010). The Constitution established a National Government and 47 County Governments, which are “distinct but inter-dependent” entities. Article 10 of the Constitution elaborates devolution and power sharing as values and principles that would guide Kenya’s governance system. During the first five years of operationalising devolution, a number of successes have been achieved. Key among them has been the enactment of devolution laws, opera- tionalisation of County Government structures, and the transfer of functions and allo- cation of resources to County Governments. Devolution laws outline the principles of planning and development at the county level. These principles are expected, among others, to protect the right to self-fulfilment within county’s communities; and serve as a basis for engagement between county governments and the citizenry. Nonethe- less, the implementation of the devolved system of government is facing a number of institutional, intergovernmental and resource related challenges. The devolved governance framework has implications for local-level climate planning. County governments play an important part in setting county policies, and work with local communities to manage climate change. They also have a constitutional obliga- tion to promote sustainable development; and to integrate climate change issues in county planning and budgeting. The integration of climate change in county planning, budgeting and implementa- tion is particularly relevant with the enactment of Climate Change Act 2016 – Kenya’s principal legal framework on climate action. The Act requires county governments to mainstream climate change actions in County Integrated Development Plans (CI- DPs). A core element of the Act, is that county governments “shall, in development, updating and approval of CIDP, and the County Sector Plans, mainstream the imple- mentation of the National Climate Change Action Plan (NCCAP), taking into account national and county priorities”. Whilst all 47 counties in Kenya have made significant efforts to prioritise climate change in their development planning process, these efforts are scarcely matched with concrete action planning and resource allocation. This is true for Kwale Coun- ty which is already experiencing devastating impact of climate change, not only in terms of mounting water resource scarcity, but also threatens coastal infrastructure and property. There are also many negative consequences to the natural environment and biodiversity, which include damages to coral reefs and other sensitive habitats. Although, the National Climate Change Act, 2016, has supported efforts to manage climate change impacts and associated risks at the local level, effective climate ac- tion planning requires a clear understanding of the devolved functions and effective coordination between national and county governments. Hence, this guide offers 6 information to policymakers, county staff and other stakeholders on the roles and mandates of national and county government that are relevant to climate action planning. This will aid in establishing climate governance and improving coordination of adaptation and mitigation activities at the local level. Kwale County Kwale County is situated in the South-eastern tip of the country (Figure 1). It lies between latitudes 3° 3’ and 4° 45’ South and Longitudes 38° 31’ and 39° 31’ East. It borders Taita Taveta County to the North West, Kilifi County to the North East, Mombasa County and Indian Ocean to the East and United Republic of Tanzania to the South (RoK, 2013). It covers an area of 8,270.2 km2 and consists of both terrestrial and marine environments. The County is divided into four constituencies and 20 county assembly wards with a popula- tion of about 649,931 persons (Table 1) and a population growth rate of 3.1 per cent (RoK, 2009). Geographically, Kwale County is divided into four major zones, namely: Coastal Plain, Foot Plateau, Coastal range and Nyika Plateau (MENR, 1985). These regions have altitudes that range from below sea level to 420 m in the Shimba Hills and 842 m on Kibashi Hill. The domi- nant rainy season is March to June, while the short rains in November to December are only locally reliable. Figure 1: Map of Kwale County showing the constituencies and wards. 7 Constituency County Assembly Area (km2) Population Ward (2009) Matuga Tsimba Golini 178.8 34,002 Waa 114.0 37,783 Tiwi 49.4 19,409 Kubo North 475.5 23,466 Mkongani 213.6 37,318 Kinango Chengoni/Samburu 697.5 32,641 Ndavaya 555.9 27,816 Puma 860.3 19,860 Kinango 305.4 32,571 Mackinon Road 1105.6 31,128 Mwavumbo 277.1 31,902 Kasemeni 209.9 33,642 Msambweni Gombato Bongwe 55.7 34,846 Ukunda 25.1 38,629 Kinondo 151.7 22,857 Ramisi 130.1 27,963 Lungalunga Pongwe/Kikoneni 346.0 51,847 Dzombo 223.5 41,509 Mwereni 2040.4 34,628 Vanga 254.9 36,119 Total 8270.2 649,931 Table 1: Kwale County electoral wards by constituency (GoK, 2013) 2.0 CLIMATE CHANGE IN KWALE COUNTY Kwale, like the rest of Kenya, is bearing the brunt of human-induced climate change impacts and associated environmental and economic losses. Climate change in Kwale manifests itself in rapid-onset events, such as frequent flooding; and slow-onset ones, such as rising temperatures, recurrent droughts, sea level rise, land and forest degra- dation, loss of biodiversity and desertification.