Kenya's lawmakers have challenged the government and development partners to fast-track funding for climate projects, saying the country must move with speed to turn climate policies into practical investments that protect communities from worsening droughts, rising temperatures and erratic rainfall.
The appeal was made during the Kenya Parliamentary Green Investment Dialogue (GID) 2026 in Kisumu, where Members of Parliament, senators, climate experts, development partners and financial institutions met to discuss how Kenya can unlock more financing for clean energy and climate projects.
Held under the theme, "From Policy to Pipeline: Advancing Clean Energy Investment in Kenya," the forum was convened through the Parliamentarians for Climate Finance (PCF) project with support from the Green Climate Fund (GCF), Climate Parliament and the United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO). Discussions centred on turning climate policies into investment-ready projects while strengthening Parliament's oversight of climate financing.
Opening the dialogue, Njoro MP Charity Kathambi Chepkwony said Kenya had reached a point where implementation should take precedence over policy discussions.
“We gather here at a moment that marks a deliberate shift from awareness and exploration to action and accountability in Kenya's green investment agenda," noted Kathambi.
She said the country must improve project preparation to attract both public and private investment.
"Political goodwill alone does not move projects from paper to pipeline. We must build structured, investment-ready preparation and support it with mechanisms that de-risk projects.”
Kathambi urged Parliament, county governments and the private sector to work together to remove institutional barriers and make better use of County Integrated Development Plans and Climate Action Plans to attract blended and concessional financing.
She also challenged leaders to better understand global climate finance opportunities, carbon markets and emerging green investment options available to counties.
“Engaging directly with investors, financial institutions, and development partners, including the Green Climate Fund, the United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO), and the Climate Parliament, has shaped our thinking. This underscores the need to develop bankable projects that can attract climate financing”, she remarked.
The call for action was echoed throughout the forum, with lawmakers saying Kenya's climate goals will only be achieved through reliable financing, stronger oversight and informed decision-making.
Senator Mohamed Faki said Parliament should embrace digital technology to improve oversight of climate financing and monitor implementation across different sectors.
He said lawmakers require timely and reliable information to determine whether climate funds are delivering results for communities.
“Effective oversight requires more than general information. It requires timely, credible, and well-organized data that enables Members to track commitments, interrogate implementation, and assess whether public resources are delivering real results," stated Senator Faki.
“By leveraging technology, we can strengthen our institutional capacity to conduct informed, evidence-based, and results-oriented oversight”, he added.
The forum also showcased new digital innovations aimed at improving climate governance. Experts from the African Group of Negotiators Experts Support (AGNES) unveiled plans to integrate the Climate Monitoring and Accountability Tool (CMAT), which supports parliamentary budget analysis, legislation tracking and project monitoring, with the Monitoring, Evaluation, Reporting and Learning (MERL) platform used by ministries and county governments.
According to AGNES Team Lead Dr. George Wamukoya, the integrated system will improve coordination and close existing gaps in climate data.
“The resulting "National Monitoring and Oversight Tool" bridges the data gap from the ward and county levels directly up to National Assembly committees and ministries, ensuring real-time climate tracking”, he noted.
The Kisumu dialogue builds on commitments made during the inaugural Green Investment Dialogue held in Mombasa in July 2025 and aims to transform Kenya's updated Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) into bankable investment opportunities.
Organisers noted that climate financing remains below the country's adaptation and mitigation needs despite growing climate pressures.
“Kenya continues to face mounting climate pressures, from erratic rainfall to rising temperatures, yet finance and investment flows remain significantly below what is required. This event will focus on turning policy into structured, investment-ready realities”, the Dialogue organizers noted in a brief to participants.
Among the priorities discussed were Green Energy Zones to attract blended financing for community mini-grids, industrial parks and Special Economic Zones, alongside expanding clean cooking technologies in public institutions. Lawmakers heard that nearly 90 per cent of Kenya's about 97,000 public institutions, most of them schools, still depend on firewood, consuming about 1.3 million tonnes of wood annually.
Parliament's Steering Committee on Climate Finance has endorsed the Programme for Accelerating Clean Cooking Transition in Kenya (PACCT), which seeks Green Climate Fund support to help public institutions shift to electric cooking through Energy as a Service (EaaS) financing models.
Legislators will also visit Dunga Beach to observe a project converting invasive water hyacinth from Lake Victoria into renewable biogas and organic biofertilizer before touring Nyawara Girls High School to assess a hybrid clean cooking system that has reduced firewood use and operating costs.
The dialogue is expected to shape legislative proposals aimed at strengthening climate finance oversight, expanding clean cooking programmes and accelerating Kenya's transition to a low-carbon, climate-resilient economy.