Govt red tape hampering implementation of climate change efforts

Government bureaucracy has been named as one of the main deterrents in the implementation of climate change initiatives.

According to an expert in the climate change field, most of the money given by donors to implement community initiatives meant at reducing the impact of climate change in the grassroots ends up being spent in meetings and conferences meant to deliberate on issues relating to the funds distribution.

“Most of the money given by donors gets spent in meetings such that the total amount reaching the community is very little,” said Dr Joanes Atela of the African Centre for Technology Studies (ACTS).

“I worked on a project in Western Kenya that was funded by the World Bank but out of the total amount, only 10 percent reached the community, 90 percent was lost in conferences and other things,” he narrated.

Speaking on the sidelines of a two-day training workshop for donors, climate change experts and policy makers that was organised by ACTS last week Wednesday, Dr Atela noted that further compounding the issue was the absence of cooperation between different sectors of the government.

“If the sectors are not cooperating, the forestry sector will not know that there is an expert in the lands ministry who can support a particular initiative,” he noted.

Dr Atela further added that important decisions are made at the global level regarding climate change, but implementation of resolutions at the local level is lacking.

He explained that lack of understanding of those decisions and lack of resources to implement the resolutions also contribute to the lack of implementation in the country level.

According to Dr Atela, Kenya has few policies on climate change and more information is needed for formation of policies in the climate change area.

“The climate Change Bill was just passed in Parliament the other day and is now at the Senate level, it is after the Bill is enacted that we can come up with policies on climate change,” he said.

Speaking at the same event, Climate Change Authority Director Dr Pacifica Ogolla noted that climate change risks are real and serious, adding that there is need for policy intervention and innovation to combat the global phenomenon.

She further added that implementation of important resolutions on climate change is key, adding that her organisation will need to work with other ministries and stakeholders to achieve this.

The meeting that was organised by four organisations with a focus on climate change drew experts, donors and policy makers from Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania, Rwanda and Nigeria with a view of drawing from each other’s experiences on improving policies in the climate change field, and using innovation to curb the impact of climate change.