Authored By: Gibran Akidah Wanje
University of Nairobi
Introduction
In Kenya, Climate change has transitioned from an environmental concern to a structural erosion of children’s rights. This Article contends that while Kenyan law establishes a robust framework grounded in the “Best interests of the Child” principle, Climatic volatility erodes the physical and social stability required for its enforcement, rendering legal protections increasingly aspirational. Climate change as a compounding stressor exacerbates socio-economic vulnerabilities in four critical areas: health and nutrition, forced displacement, educational disruption and negative coping mechanisms threatening child protection. After contextualizing Kenya’s shifting environmental landscape, this Article analyses how these shocks manifest as concrete child rights abuses creating a widening chasm between the lived reality of Kenyan children and the legal theories designed to protect them.
Kenya’s Adverse Landscape of Climate Change: A Contextual Background
To establish a factual foundation for the legal analysis, this section examines Kenya’s shifting environmental landscape, where average annual temperatures have increased by 1°C since 1960 and average maximum temperatures have risen by 1.5°C over the last 4 decades [1] with 2014-2023 being the hottest decade on record.[2] This warming has induced volatile hydrological patterns altering predictable seasonal cycles thus alternating extremes of water scarcity and surplus.[3] This is evidenced by the 2019-2023 drought followed by the 2023 prolonged rains that resulted to catastrophic flash floods.
According to UNICEF, around 12 million children in Kenya are exposed to climate and disaster risks.[4] Vulnerabilities are most acute in Arid and Semi-Arid Lands (ASALs) and coastal region counties such as Turkana, Samburu, Marsabit, Wajir, Kilifi, and Kwale.[5] These risks are primarily driven by two major shocks: drought and water scarcity affecting approximately 9 million children, and floods impacting around 1.3 million children in Kenya.[6] These shifts decimate livelihoods especially in agricultural and pastoral regions rendering legal protections of children difficult to enforce.
- Malnutrition and Health risks
Malnutrition stems from agricultural productivity constraints by drought and heavy rains that disrupt the cultivation, transportation and storage of food.[7] These induce food scarcity or switch to nutrient-deficient “fillers” leading to stunting, micronutrient deficiencies and developmental impairment in children[8]. The problem is compounded as malnutrition directly elevates the risk of diseases including malaria, respiratory infections and acute febrile illnesses.[9]. This demonstrates how climate change escalates disease prevalence among Kenyan children who exhibit heightened susceptibility to health risks. This encompasses primarily vector-borne diseases and waterborne diseases arising from compromised access to clean water and sanitation.[10] The effects extend beyond physical health to include psychological conditions such as increased anxiety and depression regarding survival. Health risks are further exacerbated by restricted access to healthcare services following damage to health infrastructure and facilities. [11]
This situation directly threatens the rights to survival, development, healthcare access, basic nutrition as well as the right to life[12]. Acute and chronic malnutrition alongside diseases like malaria remain primary causes of global mortality especially for children under 5.[13]
- Displacement
Forced displacement is a response to the climatic disasters necessitating the search for habitable environments. This migration is precipitated by the destruction of housing via floods or the pursuit of food and essential services disrupted by extreme weather events. In 2022, climatic shocks predominantly floods resulted in a record 187,000 child displacements. Displaced families end up in overcrowded settlements exposing children to heightened risks of diseases, malnutrition and exploitation[14].
Displacement compromises children rights to adequate housing and parental care due to separation with their parents. Furthermore, it undermines protection against abuse and exploitation which they are acutely susceptible in informal settlements while impeding access to basic nutrition and healthcare.
- Education disruption
Climatic shocks impede child education through destruction of learning institutions exemplified by the 2024 floods which damaged over 2000 schools.[15] Educational outcomes are also compromised by the diminished cognitive capacity of students suffering from malnutrition, illness or hunger depriving them of energy required for active learning.[16] Access to these institutions is further hindered by destruction of roads and displacement from homes as previously noted.
These factors fundamentally threaten the right to education and the long-term professional prospects and aspirations of children.
- Negative Coping mechanisms & Child protection
Climatic events exacerbate child protection risks as families adopt negative coping mechanisms. Economic strains from these shocks force many children into child labour, early marriage and transactional sex [17] in order for the families to meet basic needs. This is most acute in agricultural and pastoral counties like Kajiado and Turkana. Displacement camps worsen these vulnerabilities as they lack child friendly spaces increasing exposure to Sexual and gender-Based Violence (SGBV) and aforementioned vulnerabilities.
These conditions violate child protection rights under the Children Act, which mandates protection from child labour, abuse, violence and harmful cultural practices.
Implementation Lacunae and Proposed Interventions
While Kenya possesses a robust policy framework to act on climate shocks including the NCCAP 2023-2027,[18] significant implementation gaps subsist. These include inadequate financing, insufficient child-centric accounting and a predominantly reactive approach. The following are proposed to address these gaps:
Interministerial Budgeting: Currently child protection is siloed within the Ministry of Labour and social protection while climate funds are in the Ministry of environment. To resolve underfunding, a Climate-Child Budget Tagging System should be implemented. This would enable child-centred climate financing by having the budget linked across the Ministries of Education and Health alongside other statutory children’s institutions. These frameworks, mirroring international benchmarks in Sweden [19]and the Philippines[20], which link environmental funds directly to social sectors like health and education ensuring holistic protection.
Data-Driven Protection (CCDRM Model): Full operationalization of the Kenya Sub-national Children’s Climate and Disaster Risk Model (CCDRM). By Utilizing indexing and satellite imagery the government can project risks in high-hit counties like Turkana or Tana River before disaster Peaks. This enables triggering of pro-active, anticipatory interventions.
From victims to Ambassadors: Children must be recognized as essential stakeholders in the “green transition” initiative rather than mere victims of climatic shocks. This is evident in the policies developed in the last 5 years forward yet still more disaster risk management policies mention children and youth as vulnerable groups. The focus must shift toward a dedicated Youth and Children Climate Strategy. A successful comparative model exists in Zambia, where youth climate champions partner with schools and churches to establish environmental clubs. This initiative empowers children to lead household adaptation such as solar cookstoves adoption and recycling initiatives. By integrating training in climate-smart agriculture, Kenya can transform children from passive victims into architects of local resilience.[21]
Climate-Smart infrastructure: These include investing in resilient schools, health facilities and transport networks. to ensure uninterrupted access to essential services during extreme climatic events.
Conclusion
The climate crisis in Kenya is no longer a distant environmental forecast but a systemic erosion of the fundamental rights of the child. As climate volatility dismantles physical and social structures necessary for legal protects, the child’s best interests become a mere legal fiction rather than a lived reality. We must prioritize children because their physiological immaturity creates a greater vulnerability and as legal protections become difficult to enforce, an unfair burden of adaptation is placed on the next generation.[22]
To bridge this chasm, Kenya must pivot from reactive measures to proactive, child-centered climate action. True progress requires integrating interministerial budgeting and evolving children from passive victims to active partners, by operationalizing data-driven models like the CCDRM and investing in resilient, climate-smart infrastructure, the state can secure a future where a child’s prospects are defined by their potential, not the next weather extreme.
Bibliography
Table of Legislations
Kenya
Children Act 2022
Other Jurisdictions
Climate Change Act of 2009 (Republic Act No. 9729), as amended by RA 10174 (2012) (Philippines)
Secondary Sources
Books and Book Chapters
Sanson AV and Burke SE, ‘Climate Change and Children: An Issue of Intergenerational Justice’ in Nikola Balvin and Daniel J Christie (eds), Children and Peace: From Research to Action (Peace Psychology Book Series, Springer 2020)
Journal Articles
Aboagye RG and others, ‘Birth weight and nutritional status of children under five in sub-Saharan Africa’ (2022) 17(6) PLoS ONE e0269279
Grantham-McGregor S and others, ‘Developmental Potential in the First Five Years for Children in Developing Countries’ (2006) 369 Lancet 60
Sheffield PE and Landrigan PJ, ‘Global Climate Change and Children’s Health: Threats and Strategies for Prevention’ (2011) 119(3) Environmental Health Perspectives 291
Walson JL and Berkley JA, ‘The Impact of Malnutrition on Childhood Infections’ (2018) 31(3) Current Opinion in Infectious Diseases 231
Zwi K and others, ‘Climate change: the African child’ (2025) 9(1) BMJ Pediatrics Open e003930
Reports and Policy Documents
Kenya Meteorological Department, ‘State of the Climate Kenya 2023’ (2024) <meteo.go.ke> accessed 23 February 2026
KPMG Norway International Development Advisory Services, ‘Climate Landscape Analysis for Children in Kenya’ (UNICEF Kenya 2025)
Ministry of Environment, Climate Change and Forestry, ‘National Climate Change Action Plan (Kenya) 2023–2027’ (Government of Kenya 2023)
National Drought Management Authority, ‘Impact of 2023 Short Rains Season on Food and Nutrition Security in ASAL Counties’ (2024) <www.ndma.go.ke>accessed 23 February 2026
UNDP Philippines, ‘SDG Budget Tagging Report’ (2023)
UNICEF Eastern and Southern Africa Regional Office, ‘Learning from the Integration of Social Protection and Nutrition in Eastern and Southern Africa: Addressing Child Poverty, Nutrition, and Protection through the Nutrition Improvements through Cash and Health Education (NICHE) Programme in Kenya’ (2022)
UNICEF Kenya, ‘The Kenya Subnational Children’s Climate and Disaster Risk Model (CCRI-DRM): Project Analytical Report’ (UNICEF 2024) accessed 23 February 2026
UNICEF, ‘Exploring the Impact of Climate Shocks on Child Protection: Kenya Study’ (UNICEF 2025) accessed 23 February 2026
UNICEF, ‘Falling Short: Addressing the Climate Finance Gap for Children’ (2023)
Websites, Press Releases, and Other Sources
Government of Sweden, ‘Sweden’s Policy for Global Development (PGU)’
NASA Earth Observatory, ‘World of Change: Global Temperatures’ <earthobservatory.nasa.gov> accessed 23 February 2026
Save the Children, ‘Press release: Number of children displaced in Kenya due to climate shocks increased sevenfold in 2022’ (2023) accessed 23 February 2026
Self Help Africa, ‘Zambia’s Young Climate Change Champions’ (22 November 2023) accessed 25 February 2026
[1] Kenya Meteorological Department, ‘State of the Climate Kenya 2023’ (2024) meteo.go.ke accessed 23 February 2026
[2] NASA Earth Observatory, ‘World of Change: Global Temperatures’ earthobservatory.nasa.gov accessed 23 February 2026
[3] Ministry of Environment, Climate Change and Forestry, ‘National Climate Change Action Plan (Kenya) 2023–2027’ (Government of Kenya 2023).
[4] KPMG Norway International Development Advisory Services, ‘Climate Landscape Analysis for Children in Kenya’ (UNICEF Kenya 2025).
[5] UNICEF Kenya, ‘The Kenya Subnational Children’s Climate and Disaster Risk Model (CCRI-DRM): Project Analytical Report’ (UNICEF 2024) https://www.unicef.org/kenya/media/4116/file/KCCDRM.pdf.pdf accessed 23 February 2026.
[6] ibid
[7] National Drought Management Authority, ‘Impact of 2023 Short Rains Season on Food and Nutrition Security in ASAL Counties’ (2024) https://ndma.go.ke/impact-of-2023-short-rains-season-on-food-and-nutrition-security-in-asal-counties/ accessed 23 February 2026.
[8] UNICEF Eastern and Southern Africa Regional Office, ‘Learning from the Integration of Social Protection and Nutrition in Eastern and Southern Africa: Addressing Child Poverty, Nutrition, and Protection through the Nutrition Improvements through Cash and Health Education (NICHE) Programme in Kenya’ (2022)
[9] JL Walson and JA Berkley, ‘The Impact of Malnutrition on Childhood Infections’ (2018) 31(3) Current Opinion in Infectious Diseases 231
[10] PE Sheffield and PJ Landrigan, ‘Global Climate Change and Children’s Health: Threats and Strategies for Prevention’ (2011) 119(3) Environmental Health Perspectives 291.
[11] K Zwi and others, ‘Climate change: the African child’ (2025) 9(1) BMJ Pediatrics Open e003930.
[12] Children Act 2022
[13] RG Aboagye and others, ‘Birth weight and nutritional status of children under five in sub-Saharan Africa’ (2022) 17(6) PLoS ONE e0269279
[14] Save the Children, ‘Press release: Number of children displaced in Kenya due to climate shocks increased sevenfold in 2022’ (2023) https://kenya.savethechildren.net/news/press-release-number-children-displaced-kenya-due-climate-shocks-increased-sevenfold-2022 accessed 23 February 2026.
[15] KPMG Norway (n 5).
[16] S Grantham-McGregor and others, ‘Developmental Potential in the First Five Years for Children in Developing Countries’ (2006) 369 Lancet 60.
[17] UNICEF, ‘Exploring the Impact of Climate Shocks on Child Protection: Kenya Study’ (UNICEF 2025) https://www.unicef.org/esa/reports/exploring-impact-climate-shocks-child-protection accessed 23 February 2026.
[18] Kenya NCCAP 2023–2027 (n 4)
[19] Government of Sweden, ‘Sweden’s Policy for Global Development (PGU)’; see also UNICEF, ‘Falling Short: Addressing the Climate Finance Gap for Children’ (2023)
[20] Climate Change Act of 2009 (Republic Act No. 9729), as amended by RA 10174 (2012); see also UNDP Philippines, ‘SDG Budget Tagging Report’ (2023)
[21] Self Help Africa, ‘Zambia’s Young Climate Change Champions’ (22 November 2023) https://selfhelpafrica.org/ie/zambias-future-climate-change-champions/ accessed 25 February 2026
[22] Ann V Sanson and Susie EL Burke, ‘Climate Change and Children: An Issue of Intergenerational Justice’ in Nikola Balvin and Daniel J Christie (eds), Children and Peace: From Research to Action (Peace Psychology Book Series, Springer 2020) 343.
