Kenya has been implementing an active environmental management programme including education and public awareness. Most Kenyans are therefore aware of the link between environmental management and human well-being. They know that environmental degradation exacerbates poverty and undermines economic progress. Of course, there are still those who lack appreciation of the ecosystem services that are central to our wellbeing but these are a minority.

Kenya’s landscape covers a total of 583 000 sq. km12 and is grouped into geographical zones including; the Savannah Lands covering most of the arid and semi- arid areas, the Coastal Margin, the Rift Valley, the Highlands and the Lake Victoria Basin. With a growth rate of 3.1% the population stands at approximately 29 million people. The country’s GNP/Capita is close to US$330. By the year 2010 and with a slow decline, the population is expected to reach a high of 39.3 million, 37.4 million with the medium decline and 35.5 million with a fast decline.

The National Climate Change Response Strategy (NCCRS), also referred to as the ‘Strategy’, is the culmination of a year-long process to develop a comprehensive and concerted suite of strategies to respond to the challenges climate change is posing to Kenya’s socioeconomic development. The NCCRS is a significant step in the recognition that climate change is a threat to national development. It has presented evidence on climate change and associated impacts.

Kenya has been integrating climate considerations into various legal and governance instruments for some time. Notably, there has been progress made in planning and implementing policies, projects and programs in key economic sectors in order to align Kenya with the international community’s approach to reducing greenhouse gas emissions and promote climate resilience.

This Supporting Resources Collection - part of the BRIDGE Cutting Edge Pack on Gender and Climate Change- showcases existing work on gender and climate change. It presents summaries of a mix of conceptual and research papers, policy briefings, advocacy documents, case study material and practical tools from diverse regions. Examining why a focus on gender and climate change is important, the resources look at the human and gender impacts of climate change, the global and national responses to climate change and locally relevant gender aware responses to climate change.

Climate change is increasingly being recognised as a global crisis, but responses to it have so far been overly focused on scientific and economic solutions. How then do we move towards morepeople-centred, gender-aware climate change policies and processes? How do we respond to the different needs and concerns of women and men, and also challenge the gender inequalities that mean women are more likely to lose out than men in the face of climate change? This In Brief sets out why it is vital to address the gender dimensions of climate change.

Climate change is increasingly being recognised as a global crisis, but responses to it have so far been overly focused on scientific and economic solutions. How then do we move towards more people-centred, gender-aware climate change policies and processes? How do we both respond to the different needs and concerns of women and men and challenge the gender inequalities that mean women are more likely to lose out than men in the face of climate change? This report sets out why it is vital to address the gender dimensions of climate change.

Urbanization is a rapid global trend, leading to consequences such as urban heat islands and local flooding. Imminent climate change is predicted to intensify these consequences, forcing cities to rethink common infrastructure practices. One popular method of adaptation is green infrastructure implementation, which has been found to reduce local temperatures and alleviate excess runoff when installed effectively. As cities continue to change and adapt, land use/landcover modeling becomes an important tool for city officials in planning future land usage.

The deciduous tree species Pterocarpus angolensis occurs in the dry woodlands of southern Africa and grows under a broad range of environmental conditions. It is threatened by overharvesting due to its valuable timber (Blood wood, Kiaat) and by land use changes. Information on the most suitable environmental conditions for the species is often old and anecdotal, while available data on its occurrence refer to range extent and not to distribution.

Over the past 15 years, 3 million hectares of forests have been converted into shrublands or grasslands in the Mediterranean countries of the European Union. Fire and drought are the main drivers underlying this deforestation. Here we present a conceptual framework for the process of fire-induced deforestation based on the interactive effects of fire and drought across three hierarchical scales: resistance in individuals, resilience in populations, and transitions to a new state.

 
 La Paz, Bolivia
15 de diciembre de 2017
 
Prácticas locales y ritualidad: enfrentando el cambio climático desde abajo
 
 
Julia Elena Ascarrunz Brinati
INTRODUCCIÓN
 
El cambio climático es una realidad concreta que afecta a la humanidad. Así lo muestran los estudios realizados desde hace varios años por organizaciones científicas,  todos ellos advierten sobre la emergencia del cambio climático y la necesidad de reducir la emisión de gases de efecto invernadero provocados principalmente por las actividades humanas.

Bolivia: Mujeres amazónicas castañeras y su lucha permanente y grupal pese a la sequía
 
                                                         Claudia Soruco
 
INTRODUCCIÓN