Climate change takes heavy toll on Kenya
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E-mail Xinhua, May 18, 2012
Kenyan Prime Minister Raila Odinga said climate change has caused economic losses of 11.5 billion U.S. dollars in 2011 in his country.
Odinga told parliament late Wednesday of the steps to mitigate disaster risks and emergencies, which have grown in frequency and scale as a result of climate change since 2008.
He said recovery and reconstruction would cost 1.8 billion dollars.
"The government is currently undertaking disaster risk and vulnerability assessment countrywide," he said, citing a study carried out by the European Union and the World Bank to quantify drought effects and to advise the government on strategies to deal with them.
The Kenyan leader said preservation of forests should form the main part of the climate change resilience methods developed.
Odinga urged Kenyans to reduce the national carbon footprint to contribute to efforts to lessen the disaster risk profile.
"Our country has been experiencing droughts and floods in the same way we experience the sun and moon: One follows the other. As part of our nation's efforts at adaptability to climate change, I call upon all Kenyans to mind their carbon footprint," he said.
The joint study estimates that Kenya needs 1 billion dollars for drought recovery operations, which include building dams and water catchment for drought-affected communities as well as restoration of livestock destroyed by droughts and diseases.
The East African nation also needs 830 million dollars to rebuild key infrastructure destroyed during droughts in the past year, believed to be the region's worst in more than half a century, which affected nearly 5 million people, according to the study.
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