Kenya’s Treasury has no clear record of the billions of shillings mobilised or spent on climate change initiatives, a recent audit has found, raising concerns over oversight of the large financial flows aimed at reducing the country’s environmental risks.
Auditor-General Nancy Gathungu’s special report highlights that the Finance ministry lacks a proper framework to monitor climate financing, leaving the nation unable to provide accurate figures on funds received or disbursed.
This gap comes at a time when Kenya continues to attract significant global funding to support mitigation and adaptation efforts.
The audit relied on the ClimateScanner platform, which is used by 141 countries to evaluate government responses to climate change. Gathungu noted that while Kenya has mechanisms to mobilise and release international climate funds, it does not have a system to track the actual amounts received or the extent of their usage.
ClimateScanner assesses countries on three dimensions: governance, financing, and public policies related to climate action.
“The National Treasury did not have information on the amount mobilised, as the mechanism for tracking climate finance had not been implemented,” Gathungu said in a rapid assessment released in November 2025.
Kenya has committed to reducing greenhouse gas emissions by 32 percent by 2030. To support this, the country has received substantial financial assistance, including roughly Sh88.5 billion from the International Monetary Fund under its Resilience and Sustainability Facility.
Additionally, the Green Climate Fund has provided about Sh120 billion ($937.66 million) to support projects aimed at strengthening the country’s climate resilience.
Established in 2010 under the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change, the GCF is the world’s largest multilateral climate fund and serves as a primary source of finance for developing countries to lower emissions and improve climate adaptation.
The funds from GCF are usually distributed through accredited institutions, which can be national, regional, or international entities.
Despite these inflows, the report indicates that tracking of climate finance remains largely theoretical. Gathungu observed that the Climate Change Fund, designed under the Climate Change Act to support priority interventions, has not been fully utilised.
The audit stresses that the government should have had systems to both mobilise funds for climate goals and track international contributions effectively.
“However, the National Treasury did not have a system for tracking and reporting international climate finance, and therefore, did not have comprehensive information on how much had been mobilised and spent on climate action, including the activities implemented,” Ms Gathungu stated.
The findings also call attention to the lack of monitoring of carbon-intensive projects and subsidies that could increase emissions, such as fuel subsidies.
Furthermore, the government was expected to clearly define what counts as direct and indirect domestic climate finance and establish mechanisms to track both categories.
Earlier efforts by the Treasury in 2020 to include climate finance in the Integrated Financial Management Information System appear to have had limited impact, leaving accountability for billions of shillings in climate funding unresolved.
