Land Use and Climate Change: Using Planning Tools to Enhance Climate Adaptation in Kenya

• Author: Robert Kibugi
• Pages: 389-409

389

Land Use and Climate

Change: Using Planning

Tools to Enhance Climate

Adaptation in Kenya

Robert Kibug i

Introduction .................................................................................................389

I. Climate Change Impacts in Kenya .......................................................390

II. Regulatory Approaches for Policy-level Climate Change

Interventions in Kenya ........................................................................ 393

A. Building Climate Resilience and Enhancing Adaptive Capacity ..... 393

B. Mainstreaming Climate Change Actions Into Planning and

Implementation of Sectoral Mandates ............................................394

III. Physical Planning in Kenya: Mainstreaming Adaptation Planning ....... 398

A. National Physical Planning Framework: Conceptual Linkage

With Sustainability? ........................................................................399

B. Contribution of Spatial Planning to Adaptive Capacity .................401

1. Mainstreaming Climate Change Tools Into National

Spatial Planning .......................................................................403

2. Mainstreaming Climate Change Tools Into Local

Spatial Planning .......................................................................406

Conclusion ...................................................................................................409

Introduction

is chapter examines how t he adverse impacts of climate change aect

socioeconomic and environmental activities in Kenya, and reviews how

implementation of sustainable physical planning and development control

tools can enhance adaptation options. e enactment of new climate change

legislation in May 2016 reects Kenya’s commitment to implement respon-

sive and c oherent regulatory mea sures. Equally important is the codica-

tion of mainstreaming as the legal tool to guide internalization of climate

change responses, such as ad aptation, into va rious sectors of public policy.

Chapter 14

390 Climate Justice

Critical to t hese eorts is revisiting the concepts and principles that inform

planning, including the emergence of stronger local governments through

devolution of functions in Kenya within the past two years. Mainstreaming

is crucial where governmental mandates on climate change are devolved to

subnational levels, such as county governments in Kenya.

Adaptation to climate change is imperative to build resilience and enhance

adaptive capacity. In this context, planned adaptation provides a valuable

opportunity to set out interventions predictably, and to mainstream these

eorts into other sectors. A key public policy sector is land use planning,

particularly t he application of physical and spatial planning tools to balance

socioeconomic and environmental considerations. In the current legal land-

scape, the Climate Change Act of 2016 establishes a new legal tool to guide

mainstreaming, the National Climate Change Action Plan (NCCAP). is

action plan is to be implemented by mainstreaming into sectoral areas, such

as physical planning, and to be f urther mainstreamed by county govern-

ments into their planning processes through County Integrated Develop-

ment Plans (CIDP).

e detailed intersection of these tools is discussed further throughout

this chapter, principally highlighting an important opportunity for Kenya.

is includes taking steps to put in place national physical planning stan-

dards that counties can adopt as guidance to implement national physical

planning standards, therefore providing a clear linkage between the physical

planning system (under the national physical planning legislation) and the

local government level CIDP and spatial planning structure set out by the

County Governments Act. ese adjustments will benet and enhance adap-

tation planning and mainstreaming because clarity in the CIDP provides a

better chance of mainstreaming the NCCAP through the CIDP, as required

by the new climate change legislation.

Part I of this chapter describes climate change impacts in Kenya, while

Part II discusses the regulatory approaches for climate change interventions

in Kenya. Part III addresses the integration of adaptation planning and spa-

tial planning through climate change mainstreaming, and evaluates oppor-

tunities for mainstreaming adaptat ion planning through physical planning

legal tools in Kenya.

I. Climate Change Impacts in Kenya

ere is now no doubt regarding the adverse impacts of climate change.

Globally, both the 2012 Rio Conference outcome document and the Sus-