Reducing greenhouse gas emissions is a priority for Kenya - CS Tuya

She made the statement at the ongoing Climate Change Conference in Dubai.

Kenya has received some support for various green energy projects.

However, some civil society organizations have raised concerns about misplaced priorities, questioning the move by developed countries to prioritize pumping funds into climate change mitigation strategies in African countries at the expense of Adaptation funds which the continent needs urgently due to the climate catastrophic incidences witnessed in various African states.

Cabinet Secretary for Environment Forestry and Climate Change,Soipan Tuiya responding to Critics,explained that Kenya has a constitutional obligation and the global undertaking known as Nationally Determined Contribution (NDC) to take part in reducing global warming.

"We have our Nationally Determined Obligations to the globe as a Climate change player in the global stage as a country, so mitigation is our business," Tuya said.

Tuya however acknowledged the importance of Adaptation financing to African countries at this point and time when African locals are facing devastating climate change effects.

The cabinet Secretary acknowledged the slow pace at which adaption finance talks are moving and like the civil society representatives, she expressed a concern.

"For adaptation, the global stocktake has just been taken, but when you look at the adaptation aspect, it is not very clear, there has not been sufficient focus on adaptation. We want to see clear targets in adaptation like we are seeing in Mitigation. With clear targets we can measure impact of solutions that we are projecting in the adaptation stage."

Tuya however said that Kenya has its own frameworks to cushion the adaptation status in the country.

On Loss and Damage funding pledged on the first day of the COP 28 presidency, the CS urged those rushing to conclude that Kenya will not share in it to be patient as negotiations are getting into the technical stages and can only give information with finality after the negotiations are closed and conclusions arrived at.

The 28th Conference of Parties on climate change deliberations continues till December 12, 2023.