Browsing by Author "Omala, Millicent Apiyo"

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    Examining socio-political factors influencing climate finance coordination in Turkana County, Kenya
    (Kenyatta University, 2025-06) Omala, Millicent Apiyo
    The evident impacts of climate change particularly in the Global South have intensified calls on the Global North to mobilise and channel funds in support of climate change response in the Global South. Funds that are utilised to implement climate change adaptation and mitigation activities are referred to as climate finance. As the push for additional climate financing to the Global South continues, it is imperative to examine how the funds are coordinated and allocated to different projects by the recipient countries to address climate vulnerabilities. Despite enacting laws and policies to guide coordination, climate finance coordination challenges in recipient countries persist. Kenya was the first African country to establish a comprehensive climate change legal and institutional framework to guide coordination of climate finance and climate change response in 2016. The fact that the country still grapples with climate finance coordination challenges makes it a suitable case for a study on impeding factors of climate policy implementation and climate finance coordination in recipient countries. Furthermore, calls on recipient countries like Kenya to establish effective climate finance coordination mechanisms have not provided clarity on what accounts for an effective coordination mechanism. Climate change stakeholders in Kenya have indicated that the focus on the technical aspects of coordination without considering the socio-political aspects is what has exacerbated the challenges. However, the extent at which the socio-political factors influence climate finance coordination remains under researched. This study addressed these gaps in research by empirically examining stakeholder perceptions of effective climate finance coordination in Kenya and socio-political factors influencing climate finance coordination at the national and sub-national levels, with a specific focus on Turkana Central, Turkana County. Using the new political economy theory of climate change development, the study conceptualised the interconnectedness of policy and institutional frameworks, climate finance coordination, the socio-political context and implementation outcomes. Data was drawn from review of literature, expert interviews, key informant interviews, focus group discussions, observations and transect walks. Deductive and inductive thematic analysis was adopted for coding and analysing data. Results indicate that diverse ideologies, interests, incentives, politics, power relations and contestation over resources largely influence stakeholder perceptions of an effective climate finance coordination mechanism and climate policy implementation. Political contestations have delayed the operationalisation of the National Climate Change Council and the national climate change fund that are meant to guide climate finance coordination. Technical complexities around tracking and reporting on climate finance and capacity gaps at the sub-national level persist. Politicisation of climate finance coordination processes and funds allocation is largely observed at the sub-national level. Findings also indicate that although devolution of climate finance is meant to bring funds and services closer to the people, vulnerability seldom informs choice of projects and project locations. Where vulnerability is a factor, it is defined largely in terms of the bio-physical factors, ignoring the sociopolitical factors that shape climate vulnerabilities. The findings demonstrate the complex, non-linear and political process that is climate finance coordination and calls on policy actors to desist from approaching climate finance coordination merely from technical lenses. Reconciling political issues of contention, integrating socio-political aspects of vulnerability in designing solutions and ensuring decentralisation drives inclusion, cooperation and learning are needed for better coordination and implementation of climate finance.