WINDGOEK, Namibia (PAMACC News) -  The Weather and Climate Information Services for Africa (WISER) funded Climate Research for Development (CR4D) has moved into high gear with the establishment of a grant management mechanism framework.

According to Frank Rutabingwa of the African Climate Policy Centre (ACPC) of the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (UNECA), the key objective of the framework is to support “African-led small, but potentially scalable research grant management facility in African institutions that will support CR4D research priorities.”

“A comprehensive project document on WISER funded CR4D research definition, oversight and uptake has been developed,” Rutabingwa said, adding that 2, 847,000 pounds have been secured from the UK’s Department for International Development (DFID).

Rutabingwa was speaking in Windhoek, Namibia, at the fourth Scientific Advisory Committee (SAC) meeting.

The meeting was held ahead of a two day write-shop to produce an African Regional Climate Outlook Forum (RCOFs) Best Practices document emanating from ACPC’s knowledge exchange workshops organised earlier in the year. The aim is to have a document that serves as a reference by all RCCs.

CR4D which was launched in 2015, aims at advancing new frontiers of African climate research to enhance co-production of climate information and services for development planning,

Research for development is therefore seen as a critical and complimentary component to achieve the overall goal of the WISER progarmme, which is to stimulate the uptake of climate information by policy makers and vulnerable groups including the youth and women.

Most importantly, Africa’s increasingly variable weather and climate, experts say, threatens development in sectors such as agriculture and food security, water, energy, infrastructure, and health are already sensitive to weather related shocks.

Further, experts believe research is critical in the operationalization of the Paris Agreement whose rule book is expected to be finalised at COP 24, and that African countries would need to be better prepared in the implementation of their Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs).

James Murombedzi, ACPC officer-in-charge, says the centre is fully committed to support member countries in their efforts to fight climate change and achieve sustainable development.

“The ECA is fully committed to supporting member States regarding the NDCs, taking into account the need for urgent and adequate climate action while staying on course to achieve the goals of Agenda 2063 and the sustainable development goals,” he said.

COP 24 is seen as the make or break meeting since the landmark Paris Agreement in 2015. It is being held against the backdrop of a year of record-breaking climate impacts, and the landmark special report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC); “Global Warming of 1.50C” which unequivocally concluded that the world is not on track to limiting global temperature rise to below 1.50C.   

It is generally agreed that 2015 was a landmark year in the development of coherent global frameworks to guide development planning. The agreements concluded in 2015 include: the Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction 2015-2030 (SFDRR); the UN 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development; African Union’s Agenda 2063; the Addis Ababa Action Agenda; and the Paris Agreement on Climate Change.

For Africa, whose economies have been severely affected by global warming and climate change, successful implementation of any of these frameworks is fundamentally contingent on actions taken regionally and globally to address the negative impacts of climate change on the one hand, and/or to explore and use some of the development opportunities from climate change.

As most of the 2015 development frameworks demonstrably point out, very little could be achieved by way of implementation of these frameworks without a complete mastery of the collection and analysis processes of climate data, which is the basis for reliable information for action on climate change at all sectoral levels.

NAIROBI, Kenya (PAMACC News) - Kenya has the potential to generate about 15,000 gigawatts of geothermal power by 2030, placing it ahead of other Eastern Africa countries in the renewable energy race.

To achieve this energy mile however, the country will have to reduce the lengthy process involved in establishing a geothermal plant, a new report says.

According to the Nordic Green to Scale for Countries technical report released recently in Nairobi, it takes between five to seven years for any country in Eastern Africa to establish a geothermal plant.

This is because none of the governments in the region have the equipment, technology and expertise to develop this source of power, and have to rely on imports, says the report by researchers at the Stockholm Environment Institute (SEI).

“The venture is also capital-intensive, leaving only established private companies to pursue this development opportunity,” the report says.

But the government has not actively involved the private sector in this sector, a situation that could explain the bureaucracy involved in geothermal development in the country, argues Mbeo Ogeya, a research fellow at SEI.

Yet Kenya is being considered as a host for the Africa Geothermal Centre of Excellence by the UN Environment, says Ogeya.

“The government needs to actively encourage private sector engagement by for instance zero rating the equipment and appliances for geothermal generation if the country is to achieve its full potential,” says Ogeya.

Corruption is another setback that is delaying geothermal development in the country, according to local media reports.

In 2016, top officials at the Geothermal Development Company (GDC) were hounded out of office and are facing corruption related cases.

Auditor-General reports also say GDC failed to pay Ksh. 1.4 billion in corporate taxes in 2015, and was slapped with penalty of Ksh. 405.6 million.

Yet GDC remains one of the best funded state companies, where Treasury allocates it Ksh. 7 billion from the national budget every year.

“The research is right, the policy is correct, but the approach in implementing both policy and research is where we miss the point,” says Ogeya.

Among the policy recommendations by the report is for the government to provide concessional loans and letters of guarantee to private developers in Kenya.

This will reduce the risk of investment, hence encourage private sector actors to be involved, argues the report.

It also challenges the government to introduce regulations supporting the assembling of geothermal equipment in the country

“This will encourage growth of local industries and involvement of local actors along the geothermal value chain,” says the report.

Kenya is leading in geothermal power generation in the region but the country has only exploited 0.62 gigawatts of the natural resource, the report says.

NAIROBI, Kenya (PAMACC News) - After losing a renewable energy patent to a powerful organization five years ago, George Otieno, a Kenyan technical innovator, is still searching for elusive justice.

Even after hiring a lawyer several times to represent him in court, his case has never made it past the gates of justice.

Otieno suspects his lawyer was bribed by the organization to drop the case, but he cannot do anything about it since he does not have the financial muscle to keep pursuingit, he says.
“I have tried several times to use a lawyer to take this organization to court. But the lawyer always turns me down. I do not know what to do next,” says Otieno, who is also a member of the Kenya Renewable Energy Association (KREA).

Like hundreds of innovators in Kenya, Otieno is a victim of poor policies that fail to inspire solutions meant to help the country adopt to the pressures of climate change.
But if an October meeting of policy makers in Nairobi that was reviewing progress in the implementation of climate change policies in Africa is anything to go by, Otieno might just be getting there.

“It is time to translate policy on climate change into action to be able to halt emissions and have an organized transition to a carbon neutral future in the shortest time possible,” James Murombedzi, the Officer in Charge of the Economic Commission for the African Climate Policy Center (ACPC), told delegates.

Murombedzi’s reasoning echoes everyday efforts that are being tried by Kenyans like Otieno. To help such civilians, governments must work with all sectors of society despite their interests, because climate governance is complex, says Murombedzi.

According to him, Africa is endowed with sufficient knowledge and technology to battle climate change. The only missing piece is strong policies that support these skills to be able to secure the continent’s preparedness against climate change, he says.

This is why it is becoming difficult for many climate change innovators in countries like Kenya to complete their creations due to policies that protect the beneficiary, rather than the maker of a product, argues Otieno.

“When the government fails to protect Kenyans like me against predatory business players, the spirit of innovation will die because I cannot invest all my time and energy on innovating something I get nothing from,” said Otieno.

Yet, government arms like the Climate Change Directorate argue Kenyans like Otieno are protected by the Kenya Green Economy Strategy and Implementation Plan 2018-2020, which is informed by among others, the need for technology development, innovation and transfer.

Besides, the 2018-2022 National Climate Change Action Plan seeks to set aside Ksh. 11 billion to support technology and innovation and how these skills can be transferred to average Kenyans, argues Charles Mutai at the Directorate.

“The Plan also seeks to ensure that Kenya enhances the use of renewable energy. We are working with other national agencies to promote innovations in this area,” says Mutai.
It is a prospect that raises hopes for troubled Kenyans like Otieno. But experts say a lot of work needs to be done to achieve accommodating and strong climate change policies.
For instance, the current policies are mostly top-down and very technical for the average Kenyan to understand, argues Samuel Kimeu, the executive director at Transparency International (TI), Kenya.

With such policies, he argues, it becomes very difficult to track how climate change finances are spent, making this weakness a breeding ground for corruption.
He is right. Two years since the Kenya Climate Change Act was established, there has never been a public report to show how climate change finances have been spent, critics argue.
Besides, they add, climate change intervention in the country has become an elitist affair, with most of the finances being sucked up by local and international conferences.

“But when there are droughts or floods affecting the poor, the burden of dealing with these calamities is left to the community to solve alone,” says Benjamin Mukulu, the director of environment and natural resource in Kitui County.

Perhaps the solution lies in institutional reforms, before Kenya can achieve strong climate change polices, argues TI’s Kimeu.

But Otieno is not convinced, arguing that corruption is so deeply entrenched into the Kenyan system that everyone is only interested in making quick money.
“I blame the Kenyan mentality. Even if we are given legal lawyers to protect us innovatorsthey will let us down after being bribed. There is a mentality of get rich quick syndrome which is robbing us of our future,” says Otieno.

NAIROBI, Kenya (PAMACC News) - After losing a renewable energy patent to a powerful organization five years ago, George Otieno, a Kenyan technical innovator, is still searching for elusive justice.

Even after hiring a lawyer several times to represent him in court, his case has never made it past the gates of justice.

Otieno suspects his lawyer was bribed by the organization to drop the case, but he cannot do anything about it since he does not have the financial muscle to keep pursuingit, he says.
“I have tried several times to use a lawyer to take this organization to court. But the lawyer always turns me down. I do not know what to do next,” says Otieno, who is also a member of the Kenya Renewable Energy Association (KREA).

Like hundreds of innovators in Kenya, Otieno is a victim of poor policies that fail to inspire solutions meant to help the country adopt to the pressures of climate change.
But if an October meeting of policy makers in Nairobi that was reviewing progress in the implementation of climate change policies in Africa is anything to go by, Otieno might just be getting there.

“It is time to translate policy on climate change into action to be able to halt emissions and have an organized transition to a carbon neutral future in the shortest time possible,” James Murombedzi, the Officer in Charge of the Economic Commission for the African Climate Policy Center (ACPC), told delegates.

Murombedzi’s reasoning echoes everyday efforts that are being tried by Kenyans like Otieno. To help such civilians, governments must work with all sectors of society despite their interests, because climate governance is complex, says Murombedzi.

According to him, Africa is endowed with sufficient knowledge and technology to battle climate change. The only missing piece is strong policies that support these skills to be able to secure the continent’s preparedness against climate change, he says.

This is why it is becoming difficult for many climate change innovators in countries like Kenya to complete their creations due to policies that protect the beneficiary, rather than the maker of a product, argues Otieno.

“When the government fails to protect Kenyans like me against predatory business players, the spirit of innovation will die because I cannot invest all my time and energy on innovating something I get nothing from,” said Otieno.

Yet, government arms like the Climate Change Directorate argue Kenyans like Otieno are protected by the Kenya Green Economy Strategy and Implementation Plan 2018-2020, which is informed by among others, the need for technology development, innovation and transfer.

Besides, the 2018-2022 National Climate Change Action Plan seeks to set aside Ksh. 11 billion to support technology and innovation and how these skills can be transferred to average Kenyans, argues Charles Mutai at the Directorate.

“The Plan also seeks to ensure that Kenya enhances the use of renewable energy. We are working with other national agencies to promote innovations in this area,” says Mutai.
It is a prospect that raises hopes for troubled Kenyans like Otieno. But experts say a lot of work needs to be done to achieve accommodating and strong climate change policies.
For instance, the current policies are mostly top-down and very technical for the average Kenyan to understand, argues Samuel Kimeu, the executive director at Transparency International (TI), Kenya.

With such policies, he argues, it becomes very difficult to track how climate change finances are spent, making this weakness a breeding ground for corruption.
He is right. Two years since the Kenya Climate Change Act was established, there has never been a public report to show how climate change finances have been spent, critics argue.
Besides, they add, climate change intervention in the country has become an elitist affair, with most of the finances being sucked up by local and international conferences.

“But when there are droughts or floods affecting the poor, the burden of dealing with these calamities is left to the community to solve alone,” says Benjamin Mukulu, the director of environment and natural resource in Kitui County.

Perhaps the solution lies in institutional reforms, before Kenya can achieve strong climate change polices, argues TI’s Kimeu.

But Otieno is not convinced, arguing that corruption is so deeply entrenched into the Kenyan system that everyone is only interested in making quick money.
“I blame the Kenyan mentality. Even if we are given legal lawyers to protect us innovatorsthey will let us down after being bribed. There is a mentality of get rich quick syndrome which is robbing us of our future,” says Otieno.