A call on the government to put a “clean and secure environment” on the forefront, even as it trudges towards the country’s development road map, the Kenya Vision 2030.
This is after the parliament approved a motion calling on the government to develop emission standards, curb pollution and combat climate change is really commendable.
The approval is long overdue because many communities have felt the consequences that are being caused by climate change as a result of not conserving our resources, poor crop yields, and delays in rains and erratic weather patterns.
These have made them to become conscious of what the environment means to them.
On the other hand, as climate change has risen on the development agenda, so has the demand for research to understand the effects it will have on society and what can be done by governments, businesses, communities and households to deal with its impacts.
The rapid increase in development assistance funding for climate change has brought with it opportunities to scale up work on development and poverty reduction.
The government’s effort to come to the forefront to put the push for a “green economy” at the core of the development agenda is a wakeup call for all of us to come on board in a participatory manner to reduce high pollution and accumulation of toxic waste, and greenhouse gases contributing to climate change.
It is not time to wait for the government to come and bail us out but to be able to implement climate change policies aimed at adaptation interventions to sustain the meagre resources we have.
As a result of collective efforts, evaluation of community initiatives of integrating the various activities undertaken in conservation, and the impact on national policy-making and on the local livelihoods will be achieved in the long run.
