ENVIRONMENT minister Chirau Ali Mwakwere has urged the government to set aside more funds to address the effects of climate change.

"This is due to the recent increasing negative impacts that has greatly affected the lives of the people as well as the economy," he said.

The minister was speaking yesterday at KICC in Nairobi during the national workshop on climate change financing.

"The frequency of the extreme climate and weather events like floods and droughts have resultant adverse impacts associated socio-economic interruptions," said Mwakwere.

He said climate projections are important since Kenya's economy is dependent on climate-sensitive sectors such agriculture, water, energy, tourism and coastal zones.

"It is estimated that direct costs of climate change damage in Kenya will potentially amount to between one and two billion US Dollars annually by the year 2030. There is great need to refocus climate finance in Africa to adaptation to build resilience to save our people," said the minister.

He thanked the government for increasingly placing climate change at the core of its social-economic strategy through the directorate programmes, projects and strategic initiatives and the African programme through United Nations Development Programme.

The minister finally thanked the Embassy of Japan and UNDP Kenya for their good partnership in integrating climate change finance in development planning and budgeting process in Kenya.

The environment Permanent Secretary, Ali Mohamed said that it is important for Kenya to figure out how to budget and blend funds so that multiple sources can support climate change initiatives and development at national level.