By Suleiman Mbatiah
Governor Susan Kihika has pitched Nakuru County as a prime destination for global partnerships in conservation and climate change initiatives.
She made the appeal during the Green Apple Environment Awards 2025 ceremony at the House of Lords, Palace of Westminster in London.
The annual international event seeks to campaign, recognize, reward and promote environmental best practice around the world.
The award scheme was launched in 1994 by The Green Organization and has become well established as one of the most popular environmental campaigns in the world.
Addressing the audience as one of three invited speakers, Kihika highlighted Nakuru’s environmental progress, stressing the importance of protecting natural systems.
“Our environmental efforts are rooted in the belief that the environment is life itself,” she said.
The Governor detailed efforts to improve water access, which currently stands at 59.2 percent, with a target of 80 percent by 2030.
Other notable initiatives include restoring the Eastern Mau Forest, the source of Njoro River which empties its water into Lake Nakuru and promoting nature-positive enterprises to safeguard critical water towers.
Kihika also outlined Nakuru’s transition to clean energy, including solar, biogas, and energy-efficient fuels aimed at reducing deforestation, lowering costs, and improving public health.
Through the Financing Locally-Led Climate Action programme, sub-counties are implementing projects in water, sanitation, wetland and biodiversity restoration, tree-planting, and urban green innovations.
The Nakuru Sponge City initiative, a climate resilience program, is using green infrastructure like rain gardens and permeable pavements to absorb, store, and reuse rainwater, mitigating floods and water scarcity.
She highlighted investments in climate technology, including the Climate Change and Energy Innovation Hub, Kenya’s first county-level air quality network, and other clean energy solutions.
These projects, she said, have improved conditions for schools and hospitals while enabling young innovators to develop climate-smart solutions.
Kihika called for stronger global partnerships in conservation, research, and climate technology, emphasizing that climate change requires collaboration across borders.
She reaffirmed her commitment to building resilience for future generations in Nakuru County through a climate innovation hub, new energy solutions and a county air-quality network to advance clean energy.
“Our progress benefits our people, including mothers who save on long water journeys. Schools and hospitals are cleaner, and young innovators are developing climate-smart solutions,” she stated.
At the ceremony, Kenya’s Competence Building Society of Early Childhood Education won the Kenya National Gold award for the Kenya Village Tree Birth Initiative for a leading role in environmental conservation.