Rich countries must provide more finance to help the poor cope with the impact of global warming, residents of Kenya’s biggest informal settlement told the president of the COP26 global climate talks.

Alok Sharma, president of the United Nations conference, was visiting a community-led project in Nairobi’s flood-prone Kibera settlement that provides easy-to-understand weather forecasts via SMS, WhatsApp and radio.

“The climate has changed a lot. We experience heavy rains more and this brings flooding which damages houses, brings diseases to our children and causes deaths,” said Faith Ondiek, a weather forecast provider or ‘Mtaani’ with the DARAJA project.

“The message we want the president to take back to global leaders is that we are doing what we can to deal with climate change, but we need help. The rich nations must contribute some funds so we can improve our lives in the face of this threat.”

“Globally as extreme weather events become more frequent and more severe we need to build resilience among the most vulnerable communities,” Sharma said in a statement.

Governments will submit updated national action plans to reduce planet-warming emissions and adapt to a hotter climate ahead of the COP26 summit in Glasgow in November.

Sharma’s visit aimed to show that COP26 was not just focused on the West bringing down their carbon emissions, but also on garnering the finance so that countries like Kenya could adapt, said a British official.

Ministers from a number of countries will meet virtually next Wednesday ahead of the summit to identify practical next steps for climate vulnerable communities.