All should save the earth
Richard Lichan Lekuterer, 60, sits in a boat as it glides above what used to be his homestead where only the ridge of a thatch roof of one of the four buildings that stood in his flooded compound at Salabani village near Marigat, Baringo county in this picture taken on October 5, 2020.
What you need to know:
- We have witnessed rising lake water levels in the Rift Valley and Nyanza regions.
- Forest cover is shrinking due to illegal logging and charcoal burning.
Kenya is among the signatories to the Glasgow Leaders Declaration on Forest and Land Use at the ongoing COP26 in Glasgow. Aimed at halting and reversing forest loss and land degradation by 2030, it comes as many parts of the country suffer the devastating effects of global warming.
We have witnessed rising lake water levels in the Rift Valley and Nyanza regions. Forest cover is shrinking due to illegal logging and charcoal burning occasioned by high demand occasioned by high cooking gas prices. As a result, irregular rainfall patterns, floods and landslides have become common.
We need individual, collective and concerted efforts to reclaim our planet for the future generations. One initiative that we should learn from and emulate is that of Sports for Climate Action (S4CA), which aims at bringing together sports organisation, personalities and fans in a concerted effort to save the country from the effects of climate change.
Shift to clean energy
It is based on two objectives. The first is achieving a clear trajectory for the global sports community to combat climate change, through commitments and partnerships according to verified standards, including measuring, reducing and reporting greenhouse emissions in line with the under 1.5 degrees Celcius target of the Paris Agreement. The second is using sports as a unifying tool to federate and create solidarity among global citizens for climate action.
Success will begin with individual effort, not the government’s. The citizenry should care for the environment. The government should reclaim all the grabbed forest lands, followed by planting of trees.
Politicians should not be allowed to politicise conservation as witnessed during the Mau Forest evictions. We should also avoid depending on the West and be in the frontline; this planet belongs to us all. As Kenya seeks to shift to clean energy by 2030, stop coal mining — like in Mui Basin, Kitui, and construction of 981MW coal power plant in Lamu.
Mr Oduor is a communication lecturer at Tangaza University College. [email protected].
