CLIMA: benefits of climate mitigation actions in Kenya

Climate mitigation actions can yield substantial health co-benefits by directly and indirectly reducing modifiable environmental and behavioural risks such as air pollution, physical inactivity and unhealthy diets.

However, these co-benefits vary widely by the emission sector, decarbonization approach, and geography. The Kenyan government has developed comprehensive climate mitigation strategies across energy, transport, and environmental sectors under its National Climate Change Action Plan (NCCAP) 2023-2027, but lacks a comprehensive framework to routinely monitor and quantify these health, social and economic co-benefits.

This evidence gap is particularly relevant for LMICs such as Kenya, which are often underrepresented in international studies quantifying these co-benefits.

Aim

The primary aim of CLIMA is to generate robust, quantitative evidence on the health and health-related social and economic co-benefits of priority climate mitigation actions in Kenya’s energy, transport, and environmental sectors. By combining evidence from air quality monitoring, atmospheric modelling and health impact assessment, we aim to produce actionable insights for decision-making on intervention selection, implementation and climate finance mobilization.

Specific objectives:

• Systematically identify and characterize the priority climate mitigation interventions aligned with Kenya’s National Climate Change Action Plan 2023-2027 across energy, transport, and environmental sectors
• Establish comprehensive environmental monitoring to measure air quality changes resulting from mitigation interventions
• Deploy high-resolution atmospheric modelling to quantify sector-specific air quality using LOTOS-EUROS chemical transport model
• Conduct integrated health impact assessment quantifying multisectoral health, social and economic co-benefits of air pollution climate mitigation actions
• Establish robust and governance structures to drive climate and health thought leadership, knowledge generation, and translation into actionable climate policies and resourcing.

The project runs over a 3-year period from April 2026 until March 2029 and is funded by Wellcome Trust.

Role of TNO

TNO’s main role is to deploy the LOTOS-EUROS chemical transport model over the study domain and include data from the low-cost sensor network into the assimilated modelling results. The model will be executed with a novel bottom-up emission inventory for Nairobi. TNO also collaborates with CEMA on the health impact studies of the climate mitigation actions. Finally, TNO provides technical support to the other partners across the work packages.

Get involved

CLIMA is one of the projects contributing to a Sustainable Atmospheric Monitoring Service for Africa (SAMSA). Interested in joining the effort to build SAMSA? Contact us!