Nairobi loses second bid to host climate change hub
The Santiago Network Advisory Board decided to relocate the hub from Geneva to the Philippines, a country in the Global South.
Nairobi has faced another setback, losing its second opportunity to host the climate change hub.
The Santiago Network Advisory Board decided to relocate the hub from Geneva to the Philippines, a country in the global south like Kenya itself.
The announcement came four months after Nairobi lost its initial bid to host the Loss and Damage hub for government climate negotiators.
As a result, Kenya will miss out on the significant financial benefits that come with hosting other related agencies, such as the United Nations' Africa headquarters and the UN Environment Programme (UNEP).
"The board decided to select the Philippines as the host country for the fund subject to the country meeting the commitments made in its proposal" it announced at an official meeting on Tuesday.
In March this year, Nairobi protested the decision, which saw government climate negotiators from mainly developed nations settle on Geneva, instead of Nairobi, as the headquarters of the hub.
The Loss and Damage Fund, created at a United Nations Climate Change Summit in Dubai last year, is a financing facility that helps vulnerable countries cope with the increasingly costly and damaging impacts of climate disasters.
The selection of the host country of the Loss and Damage Fund Board took place at a closed-door meeting in South Korea on Tuesday.
This board will be in charge of operationalising the multi-million dollar fund, including setting access modalities and allocation parameters and crafting resource mobilisation strategies to deliver climate finance funds to vulnerable nations.
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