Nairobi — Kenya has launched an urgent push to access global climate "loss and damage" financing, as mounting floods linked to rising lake levels overwhelm communities, wipe out infrastructure and outstrip the country's ability to adapt.
Senior government officials, scientists and development partners are meeting in Naivasha for a five-day technical workshop to prepare Kenya's first-ever funding request to the Fund for Responding to Loss and Damage (FRLD)--a new international mechanism created to support countries facing irreversible climate harm.
The workshop, convened by the Climate Change Directorate (CCD) under the Ministry of Environment, Climate Change and Forestry with support from UNFPA, is focusing on the escalating crisis of rising lake waters--commonly described as "backflow"--affecting Rift Valley lakes and the Lake Victoria basin.
According to government assessments, the phenomenon--driven by climate change, hydro-meteorological variability and land-use pressures--has displaced more than 75,000 households, submerged roads, schools and health facilities, and reversed years of development gains in some of Kenya's most productive regions.
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"The workshop brought together 35 technical experts from national and county governments, academia, civil society, and development partners to align Kenya's response with the just finalized Barbados Implementation Modalities (BIM), the framework guiding access to FRLD financing," the Ministry of Environment said.
Opening the workshop on behalf of the Climate Change Directorate, officials emphasized that Kenya's case extends far beyond economic losses.
Entire communities are experiencing non-economic harms, including the submergence of cultural and sacred sites, destruction of ancestral graves, increased disease burdens, deaths, and heightened social tensions triggered by displacement and competition for land.
Throughout the week, experts are examining the science behind loss and damage--including climate attribution studies that link extreme events to global warming--as well as governance arrangements under the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) and the operational requirements of the FRLD.
Participants are also reviewing past national assessments on rising lake levels, while identifying critical data gaps--especially in measuring non-economic losses such as displacement, health impacts and damage to cultural heritage, which have historically been underreported.
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Sectoral perspectives from health, gender, education, agriculture, water, transport and population mobility are being integrated, alongside county-level case studies from Nakuru, Kisumu, Busia and Turkana, some of the regions hardest hit by flooding.
Speakers from government, academia and international institutions highlighted how climate impacts intersect with public health risks, gender-based violence and social vulnerability, reinforcing the need for gender-responsive, community-led solutions.
A key outcome of the workshop will be the development of standardized data collection tools to guide a nationwide fact-finding mission scheduled for January 2026.
The data will form the backbone of Kenya's FRLD funding request, ensuring it meets BIM requirements on country ownership, measurable impact and alignment with existing national policies.
As Kenya's National Focal Point to the FRLD, the Climate Change Directorate will coordinate the next steps--ranging from field data collection and technical drafting to internal government approvals--ahead of a planned February 2026 submission.
Officials described the Naivasha meeting as the first of its kind in Kenya and a pivotal moment in turning climate impacts on the ground into a compelling, evidence-based case for international support.
Among those attending are officials from the Climate Change Directorate, including Thomas Lerenten Lelekoitien, Michael Okumu, Samuel Muchiri and James Thonjo, as well as Patricia Nying'uro from the Meteorological Department, alongside other national and county representatives.
As floods continue to redraw Kenya's landscapes and livelihoods, the outcome of this process could determine whether affected communities receive timely global support--or are left to shoulder irreversible losses alone.
