ABSTRACT
Ecosystems in Kenya are highly degraded owing to extreme climate change. The degraded ecosystem presents a high cost to the economy. With this, the role of green financing in the restoration of ecosystems cannot be overemphasized. This book chapter examines the concept of green financing investments as key elements of guaranteeing sustainable tourism in the Kenyan context. The chapter also looks at how ecosystem services support tourism production and consumption in Kenya and the economic and social costs and benefits of ecosystems. The study adopted a mixture of documentary analysis and phenomenology methodology to describe, understand and interpret patterns of cost–benefit relationships between humans and ecosystems. The findings indicate that the sustainable tourism management has the potential to not only alleviate the possibly harmful consequences of visitation to a natural area, but it can also act as a potent means of supporting conservation and restoration of the ecosystems upon which it relies on. Green financing investments play an important role in delivering several Sustainable Development Goals including environmental sustainability. Accordingly, green financing investments are an important element that could be utilized as a tool for sustainable tourism management to restore the Kenyan ecosystem services. The concept needs to be integrated into tourism policies so as to guarantee sustainable tourism investments. However, the COVID-19 pandemic has brought new challenges. The increased waste from the pandemic might mean more costs in waste management resulting in reduced profits. This, therefore, means that we need to focus on people and the planet through the circular economy that provides for innovative green financing models. In addition, there needs to be tourism governance and regulatory measures that will guarantee more sustainable green tourism financing in the post-COVID-19 context. The study will make significant contributions to the current national financial policy framework in the post-pandemic era. Further, the study findings will be useful for devising management strategies, climate change strategies as well as green financing models in East Africa.
