The County Government of Mombasa in collaboration with the Coventant of Mayors in Sub-Saharan African (COM SSA) on Friday launched the Mombasa City Lab.

The lab is expected to pave way for a co-develop and co-design approach to generate concrete solutions for the city’s complex urban flooding climate adaptation challenge.

The City LAB is also expected to tackle complex, cross-sectoral urban challenges by fostering collaboration among diverse stakeholders, including government, civil society, private sector and academia.

These structured processes aim to generate innovative ideas by co-producing solutions aimed at addressing complex urban issues through a multi-stakeholder consultation process.

Speaking during the event, Mombasa County deputy governor Francis Thoya described the launch of the lab as a pivotal initiative in the county’s journey towards a resilient and sustainable future.

The recent rains and subsequent flooding have reminded us of the urgency to of the challenges we face, especially in the context of climate change.”

“We acknowledge the impact on our communities and recognize the need for comprehensive, collaborative solutions,” said Thoya.

The Mombasa City Lab he said is born out of the recognition of the climate challenges the county faces and is a testament of the county administration to innovation and resilience.

He said it represents a structured participatory process involving the county, academia, civil society, the private sector and local stakeholders.

"Together we aim to co-develop concrete solutions to address our city’s complex urban flooding and

The city lab process is expected to bring relevant stakeholders together to generate and co-develop innovative ideas for how to solve urban issues wherecompeting and conflicting prioritizes are addressed and feasible solutions are generated.

The LAB during the implementation will co-develop and co-design concrete solutions for the city’s complex urban flooding climate adaptation challenge over a period of one year.

Where reasonable and possible, the LAB will take actions towards selected proposed solutions.

"The Mombasa City Lab process is not just a forum, it is a critical intervention, a laboratory for ideas and actions that will lead to transformative outcomes.” Thoya said.

The county executive for Water, natural resources and climate change resilience Dr. Emily Achieng said that the lab has come at an opportune time as the county grapples with looking for solutions to problems affecting the county.

"The lab is going to look at the complexity of a problem and who can solve it. As a county we have taken strokes and we are adjusting our budget to factor in social programs in order to assist people affected by the recent floods,” said Achieng.

She said her department was already putting plans in motion to implement the recently launched Mombasa Climate Change Action Plan adding that several bills will be brought into the county assembly of Mombasa for adaptation.

She added that she was working closely with the department of lands to ensure that even the 6.9 per cent emissions coming from buildings is reduced by first quarter of next year.

The action plan she said is not only for her department and the county, but all stakeholders in Mombasa.

"We will gazette new green building codes by the first quarter of next year and all stakeholders will abide by it to reduce emissions.”

“With our partners GIZ, we have finished mapping the energy load from county buildings, we are looking at renewable energy alternatives, because as a government we want to lead from the front,” Achieng said.

Irene Garibaldi, the head of cooperation European Union delegation to Kenya said that the launch of the Lab will help to address the consequences of climate change in Mombasa.

She lauded the county government of Mombasa for spearheading initiatives to address effects of climate change locally.

"The floods witnessed recently have showed us the negative effects of climate change. I want to confirm to you that the EU is committed to work with counties to support inclusive and resilience urbanization, improve energy planning, reduce multination and help achieve local development agendas,” said Garibaldi.

She added that in the just concluded COP28 discussions in Dubai, the EU has committed about Sh3 billion for the covenant of mayors in sub-Saharan Africa.

The Covenant of Mayors in Sub-Saharan Africa (CoM SSA), is the largest global network of cities committed to tackle the intricate challenges posed by impacts of climate change and inequitable energy access.

CoM SSA is part of the Global Covenant of Mayors, an initiative of 13,000+ cities taking ambitious climate action.

Support to CoM SSA is co-funded by the European Union and Germany and co-implemented by GIZ in Kenya.