photo of the participants./PHOTO. Courtesy
The Global Center on Adaptation (GCA) has released new Urban Climate Risk Profile Preparation Guidelines and a companion template to help Kenya’s urban governments conduct rapid, in-house climate risk assessments.
The tools are designed to support cities participating in the Second Kenya Urban Support Program (KUSP2), which requires the preparation of Urban Climate Risk Profiles as a key condition for accessing performance-based Urban Development Grants (UDGs).
The launch follows a national hands-on training held on 22–23 September 2025, supported by the State Department for Housing and Urban Development (SDHUD) and the Council of Governors (CoG), alongside three virtual peer-learning sessions in October and November.
Kenya’s secondary cities face growing climate threats from flooding and heat stress to infrastructure strain, but many local authorities lack the technical capacity to translate climate data into actionable planning.
The new GCA guidance seeks to bridge this gap through a replicable, step-by-step methodology built on globally available datasets and free online tools.
This approach enables municipalities to produce consistent, credible, and comparable climate risk assessments.
“GCA’s support equipped our urban authorities with the technical confidence to carry out credible, rapid climate risk assessments,” said Plan. Solomon Ambwere, Director of Urban Governance, Management, and Resilience at SDHUD.
“It ensures that cities and municipalities have the local capacity to integrate understanding of climate risks into their planning processes.”
More than 150 officials from 68 of the 79 municipalities participating in KUSP2 took part in the two-day training.
The sessions were designed to build participants’ understanding of risk profiling and strengthen local expertise in identifying priority climate challenges.
According to post-training feedback, over 90 percent of participants rated the course as highly relevant and effective in improving their capacity to prepare rapid climate risk assessments and compile Urban Climate Risk Profiles.
“We appreciate GCA and all KUSP2 partners for providing this invaluable opportunity to strengthen our capacity in developing a comprehensive Urban Climate Risk Profile,” said Antonio Gikonyo Kariuki, Senior Environment Officer at Kerugoya/Kutus Municipality.
“This training marks a significant step toward building resilient and sustainable urban systems for our urban areas.”
The Urban Climate Risk Profile Guidelines and training form part of GCA’s broader technical assistance under KUSP2, aimed at strengthening resilience planning within Kenya’s devolved urban governance framework.
The initiative also contributes to Kenya’s commitments under the National Climate Change Action Plan and the country’s broader urban resilience agenda.
Following the in-person training, GCA continued engaging municipal officers through online peer-learning sessions, allowing cities to exchange experiences and refine their local applications of the methodology.
These continuous learning opportunities are helping local governments move from assessment to action, ensuring that climate risk information informs development priorities and investment planning.
By building the technical capacity of local authorities, GCA’s initiative enables Kenya’s cities to design, prioritize, and implement resilient urban investments tailored to their specific climate challenges.
The effort also aligns with GCA’s mission to accelerate climate adaptation solutions globally, empowering developing countries to turn risk data into practical, on-the-ground resilience measures.
About the Global Center on Adaptation (GCA)
The Global Center on Adaptation (GCA) is an international organization working to accelerate action and support for climate adaptation solutions around the world.
Headquartered in Rotterdam, the Netherlands, with regional offices in Africa, South Asia, and Asia-Pacific, GCA collaborates with governments, development partners, and financial institutions to integrate climate resilience into policies, investments, and planning.
Its Africa programs focus on helping cities and local governments strengthen adaptation capacity and implement climate-resilient development strategies.
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