NAIROBI, July 21 (Xinhua) -- Kenya plans to prioritize climate change adaption and mitigation in the Third Medium Term Plan (MTP) which runs from 2018 to 2022, officials said on Friday.
Vision 2030 Delivery Secretariat Director General Julius Muia told Xinhua in Nairobi that the government will focus on climate change because it has emerged as a key constraint towards development.
"As we develop the next medium term plan, every sector will include a climate change component so as to combat this growing phenomenon," Muia said when the Vision 2030 Delivery Secretariat signed a Memorandum of Understanding with Base Titanium to market Kenya's mineral sector abroad.
Muia said that climate change has not been fully captured in the previous development plans because it was a relatively new concept.
Stakeholders have already provided input for the draft Third MTP which should be ready before end of July.
Muia said that climate change is important to Kenya because it is part of the UN's Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
The East African nation will also prioritize the exploitation of its blue economy which is largely untapped.
"We want to expand investments in the coastal and inland water bodies as a way to expand wealth and job creation," he added.
He observed that Kenya's territorial waters in the Indian Ocean are equivalent to 40 percent of the country's land mass.
Muia noted that most African countries are yet to fully exploit its oceanic water due to boundaries disputes with its neighbors.
