HTTP 200 OK
Allow: GET, PUT, PATCH, DELETE, HEAD, OPTIONS
Content-Type: application/json
Vary: Accept
{
"id": 475103,
"url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/475103/?format=api",
"text_counter": 320,
"type": "speech",
"speaker_name": "Hon. Ganya",
"speaker_title": "",
"speaker": {
"id": 18,
"legal_name": "Francis Chachu Ganya",
"slug": "francis-ganya"
},
"content": "Thank you, hon. Temporary Deputy Speaker, for the opportunity. I want to second the Climate Change Bill, Bill No.1 of 2014. I want to congratulate my colleague and friend, hon. Dr. Ottichilo, for publishing this Bill, not for the first time, but for the second time. I served in the Tenth Parliament and this Bill was on the Floor. It went all the way to the President for assent and it was not assented to. In the Eleventh Parliament again, having taken into consideration those reasons, he has published this Bill and we are now debating it in the Eleventh Parliament. He has been very consistent in ensuring that this country has a law to manage climate change activities. Climate change has been recognized as one of the most defining developmental challenges of the 21st Century which will jeopardize all the gains that we have made socially and economically for decades to come. In Kenya, we are already observing increased climate change related incidences of enhanced floods and frequent droughts. These extreme climatic conditions are resulting from the climate change. Kenya is one of the most vulnerable countries to climate change with the national climate change index score of 0.5. The worst possible national climate change index score for a country is 0.1. Drought and floods affect over 15 million Kenyans in over 20 counties. The question of extreme climate change conditions such as drought is estimated to cost our national economy between 2 and 2.8 per cent of our GDP per year. The drought experience between 2008 and 2011, for four years, was estimated to have cost this country a loss of Kshs968.6 billion, which is about US$3.1 billion. The state of the environment report by NEMA for 2010, that was the most recent, estimates that Kenya will need about US$1 billion to US$2 billion per year by 2030 to address climate change related challenges. This Bill, among others, looks at the issue of climate change coordination. It proposes to have a secretariat housed in the presidency to coordinate climate change interventions. However, there is a lot of merit to this position. The impacts of climate change are across sectors and multi-sectoral. They range from agriculture, water, energy, infrastructure, human settlement, health and education, national security as well as environmental governance. The need for a multi-sectoral approach to climate change has made it necessary for many governments in the world to place climate change coordination in high offices with mandate to coordinate government’s wide actions. This is either in the office of the prime minister or in the presidency. The jurisdictions which have placed the coordination of climate change in the presidency or the office of the prime minister are the United States, China, United Kingdom, Singapore, Pakistan, Denmark, Belgium, Brazil and Indonesia among others. Even our neighbour, Tanzania has done that. Our policy; the Kenya National Climate Change Response Strategy, 2010, argued that climate change coordination unit must be placed in the office of the Prime Minister then. Of course, that office is not there anymore The electronic version of the Official Hansard Report is for information purposesonly. A certified version of this Report can be obtained from the Hansard Editor."
}