In a landmark move, the climate Change Directorate (CCD) under the Kenyan Ministry of Environment, Climate Change and Forestry, in partnership with the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) Kenya, launched an initiative to fast-track discussion climate-induced loss and damage in the country and domesticate, in line with the Barbados Implementation Modalities.
The Barbados Implementation Modalities acronymized as BIM guides the operationalization of the global response to loss and damage under Article 8 of the Paris Agreement. The BIM also reaffirms that support for Parties (Nation States) that have suffered Loss and Damage will be needs-based and capped. The BIM also stipulates priorities for climate-vulnerable countries.
Kenya’s bold step to domesticate the BIM is critical in addressing the escalating climate crisis that continues to inflict severe environmental, economic, and social impacts. This move is timely, following discussions at COP30 in Belém (November 2025), where Parties advanced the implementation of the Fund for Responding to Loss and Damage under the Barbados Implementation Modalities (BIM).
Over the last 3 decades, Kenya has witnessed a dramatic shift in its water landscape. Rising water levels have transformed the physiognomy of lakes and rivers, with Lake Baringo expanding by 12 meters, displacing communities and threatening biodiversity.
Speaking during one of the sessions, James Thonjo, a senior climate change officer with Kenya’s Ministry of Environment, Climate Change and Forestry, said, “The losses and damages from climate change can no longer be ignored.”
“We have witnessed rising water levels in the recent past that have ravaged communities of their livelihoods,” Thonjo continued, highlighting the immediate and visible impacts.
Notably, in 2024 flash floods, exacerbated by an unprecedented El Niño, ravaged the country, claiming over 174 lives, displacing over 500,000 households. The unabated floods also destroyed 17,000 acres of farmland.
Markedly, these climate-related disasters were not isolated incidents. Kenya faces an annual economic loss of approximately 2.6% of its GDP due to climate variability and extreme weather events. The country’s arid and semi-arid lands (ASALs), which cover approximately 90% of its territory, are particularly vulnerable, with droughts affecting 8 million Kenyans and forcing 286,000 to migrate.
