The day began with a symbolic and practical act: a tree-planting session. Leaders from the various organizations present joined together to plant trees, offering words of affirmation and hope for their growth. This act represented a tangible commitment to climate action, with the trees envisioned to provide shade, habitat for birds, and contribute to the institution’s environmental well-being. Furthermore, the leaders recognized the trees’ potential to provide raw materials essential for timber industries, highlighting the interconnection of environmental sustainability and economic development. This opening ceremony set the tone for an event focused on tangible solutions and long-term impact.

Martha Njambi of Giving Light to Society delivered a compelling presentation highlighting the organization’s multifaceted approach. She emphasized how their programs directly contribute to climate resilience by tackling period poverty and mental health. Njambi explained the significance of their “Kairetu” program, meaning “girl,” which focuses on providing reusable sanitary pads to women and girls from vulnerable backgrounds. This initiative not only addresses the pressing issue of period poverty but also directly combats the environmental impact of non-biodegradable waste. She further underscored the disproportionate impact of climate change on women, particularly those reliant on agriculture, and detailed how the organization’s free counseling and mentorship programs address climate-related anxieties and stress. By recognizing the vital link between mental well-being and effective climate action, Giving Light to Society is demonstrating a holistic approach to building community resilience.

Joseph Makokha of Ubunifu Hub, a project of Greenpeace Africa, showcased their commitment to empowering youth through economic opportunities. He detailed the organization’s programs, which provide youth funds of up to Ksh 50,000 to support sustainable climate action initiatives, regardless of gender. This investment in youth-led solutions is further strengthened by their “aftercare” program and learning trips, which ensure that young entrepreneurs receive the necessary support to implement their ideas effectively. Makokha also highlighted the role of their podcast in amplifying youth voices and advocating for climate action. By providing both financial and educational resources, Ubunifu Hub is fostering a generation of climate leaders who are equipped to drive sustainable change.

Tony Kennedy of the Peer Mentor Association of Kenya emphasized the organization’s focus on nurturing future climate leaders through mentorship and education. He described their work in establishing environmental clubs in schools across various regions, including Kiambu, Nairobi, Turkana, and the Nyanza region. Alongside their tree planting initiatives, they provide essential mentorship to young girls on teenage pregnancies, menstrual health, and the importance of abstinence. Recognizing the interconnection of social and environmental issues, the organization also addresses economic disparities by providing sanitary towels and school uniforms to those in need. By integrating mentor-ship, education, and material support, the Peer Mentor Association of Kenya is cultivating a generation of young people who are committed to both environmental stewardship and social justice.

The event underscored the importance of integrating gender-sensitive approaches into climate action, recognizing that youth-led initiatives are playing a crucial role in driving sustainable change. Addressing period poverty, mental health, and economic empowerment were identified as essential components of building climate resilience. The work of Giving Light to Society, Ubunifu Hub, and the Peer Mentor Association of Kenya, among others, is vital to the communities they serve, offering hope and practical solutions in the face of climate change. Let us all support these vital initiatives and work together to create a more just and sustainable future for all.

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To protect community resources, the Act has made it mandatory that every land-based project carried out under the Act must protect the community’s economic, social, and cultural well-being. This is more so for the projects found in community land.

To eliminate the ambiguity on what constitutes a community for purposes of carbon projects, the Act has defined the community as “a consciously distinct and organized group of users of community land who are citizens of Kenya and share any of the following attributes: (a) common ancestry; (b) similar culture or unique mode of livelihood; (c) socio-economic or other similar common interest; (d) geographical space; (e) ecological space; or (f) ethnicity.

The benefits themselves yet to be harvested by the Communities from the Carbon Markets are clear, but the link to emission reductions can be elusive. The REDD+ Projects more so those developed in community land, should be centered in the communities’ self-governance. Communities ought to choose the development of activities focusing on an array of social, health, and economic development issues.

The big question

But the big question begs, will the communities benefit from this scheme, or is it going to be another philanthropic add-on?

Most of the long-term projects in rural areas that actively involve local communities and generate carbon credits operate within the Voluntary Carbon Markets (VCM), with the intention of empowering these communities by creating additional income streams and promoting sustainable living practices. Carbon credit trading occurs primarily in two distinct markets: compliance trading and voluntary trading. Compliance trading is subject to government regulations and enforcement, while voluntary trading operates on a voluntary basis without a government mandate.

Agreed on at the Convention on Biological Diversity COP14, three principles to further promote alignment between the rights of communities and the VCM were identified: recognition, participation, and transparency.

1. Recognition

Land tenure rights of communities should be explicitly recognized and secured. This begins with recognizing land rights and is followed by assisting Indigenous peoples and local communities in their capacity to describe, price, and trade credits. All captured in the Community Development  Agreement together with who the stakeholders of the projects are, the annual social contribution of the aggregate earnings of the community to be disbursed and managed for the benefit of the community, manner of engagement with local stakeholders, sharing of benefits from carbon markets and carbon credits between the project proponents and impacted communities and the proposed socio-economic development around community priorities. To support this effort, the mandatory period for review or amendment of a Community Development Agreement is 5 years with the Agreement providing for framework on how disputes can be solved.

2. Participation

Equitable projects should engage Local Communities and Indigenous People through inclusive project design and robust distribution of both monetary and nonmonetary benefits like cash payments, tenure security, and ecosystem protection. To ensure participation throughout project design, project developers should respect and advance the Free, Prior, and Informed Consent (FPIC) right, recognized in the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples. The FPIC empowers people to negotiate the conditions for project design, implementation, monitoring, and evaluation. By leveling information and power asymmetries, FPIC is a powerful tool to ensure that community-led climate action is delivered.

3. Transparency

Communities often have reservations about the concept of revenue generation and the market system in the context of carbon credits. They often prefer to take control over the determination of the quantity or allocation of carbon credits. Project proponents must disclose things like credit and transaction data which is reflective on the ground.

What’s next?

Transferring these principles from paper to practice will not be achieved if we don’t first create the appropriate market infrastructure. Urgent climate action needs a purpose-driven VCM designed to serve people and the planet alike, relying on improved visibility through data, robust monitoring and evaluation, and a leveled field to engage Indigenous peoples and local communities.

Well-drafted contract structures between the communities and the project proponents can support trust and protect IPLCs and local communities from future price increases that benefit buyers only. Capital markets can serve equity as well, but only if properly regulated and if carbon-based securities are not separated from their underlying assets. Market regulators are catching up. Without oversight, the market is prone to litigation. Access to the market should be limited to good faith sellers and buyers who refrain from predatory behaviors.

Mercy Chepkemoi is an Advocate of the High Court of Kenya

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Huge disparity between the sexes

The ripple effects of this omission have been felt with the just concluded Africa Climate Change Summit held in Nairobi-Kenya, it was clear from the speakers that Kenyan women and by extension children bear the hard painful burden of climate change ranging from flash floods, drought, rising sea water levels and the high levels of heat waves. Women, as opposed to men, are by no doubt seen as more vulnerable to the impacts of climate change mainly because they represent the majority of the world’s poor group, and they directly depend on threatened and depleting natural resources. The huge disparity between the two sexes is also evident in the place of women in their different roles, responsibilities, decision-making, access to land and natural resources, and opportunities held by both sexes.

The vulnerability of women can be attributed to social, economic, and cultural effects in the African Culture. In most Kenyan households, women are the sole breadwinners who shoulder major household responsibilities ranging but not limited to looking for water supply, the source of energy for cooking and heating the household. The women who are also engaged in small-scale farming to fend for the households have little to no access to avenues to participate in decision -making nor are they involved in the distribution of environmental management benefits. These women who carry the burden of their entire households have little or no time to attend or have access to training and education seminars to develop skills to better their livelihoods. The level of illiteracy doubled up with lack of mobility puts these women at the forefront of receiving the brunt of climate change.

Women should also be given a seat at the table

Climate-induced stressors can also impact access to education and the labour market for women and girls, increasing the time they must spend on household chores and therefore perpetuating a cycle of disempowerment. Moreover, in the aftermath of climate-induced disasters, women and girls can be more vulnerable to gender-based violence and therefore need access to quality services essential for their safety and recovery.

To improve women’s participation in adaptation to climate change, women ought to be seen not as victims but as active agents in the fight against climate change. Women for a long time have been carriers of indigenous knowledge who pass knowledge from one generation to the next and in this same breath, they are known to have immense knowledge and skills related to water harvesting and storage, how to mitigate adverse changes of weather conditions such as floods and drought and food preservation. This knowledge must be tapped and passed down from one generation to the other to enhance local adaptive capacity.

Women should also be given a seat at the table in both the national and county level platforms to give opinions regarding the allocation of resources in climate change initiatives. Both levels of government should also formulate women-inclined programmes to mitigate the effects of climate change.

I acknowledge efforts to promote gender equality in climate change policies, programmes, and initiatives, including the UN Secretary General’s initiative on Gender and Climate Change, launched at the Global Climate Action Summit 2019 and with only 7 years left to achieve the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, notably Sustainable Development Goal 5 on achieving gender equality and empowering all women and girls, there is a lot to be done to improve women’s and girls’ participation and leadership in all climate actions.

Mercy Chepkemoi is an Advocate of the High Court of Kenya and a Climate Justice Champion

masiechebett@gmail.com

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