Ruto makes case against plastic pollution, wants hub in Nairobi

President William Ruto has urged the global community to support Africa’s position to have plastic pollution treaty secretariat in Nairobi.

Ruto spoke on Thursday when he addressed the high level segment of the sixth session of the United Nations Environment Assembly in Gigiri.

“I urge the global community to advance towards a climate neutral, resource-efficient and circular economy. We commend Unep for its role in the intergovernmental negotiations for the global plastic treaty," he said.

"Building on this achievement and in line with promoting efficiency and effectiveness, I urge the global community to support Africa’s position that the Secretariat of the Treaty be headquartered at Unep,” Ruto said.

In a historic milestone at UNEA-5 in 2022 in Nairobi, UN member states endorsed a resolution to end plastic pollution by forging an internationally legally binding agreement by 2024.

As of last year, 175 countries had adopted the resolution, End plastic pollution.

The resolution is an international legally binding instrument that addresses the full lifecycle of plastic, including its production, design and disposal.

Ruto said the current global environmental governance remains fragmented despite the historic agreement at the Rio+20 conference, which calls for the consolidation of Unep headquarters functions in Nairobi.

He said the fragmentation of governance leads to policy inconsistencies, overlaps, inefficiency and waste in the administration and implementation of multilateral environmental agreements.

The president said addressing environmental issues in this manner diminishes efficiency and effectiveness, undermining our ability to make meaningful change.

“Therefore, Unep, as the global body with the mandate to set the environmental agenda, must enhance policy coordination, integration and coherent implementation of the agreements while honouring each mandate,” Ruto said.

Unep should further provide regular and robust platforms for the exchange of information, knowledge, best practices and lessons learned among multilateral environmental agreements and stakeholders, he said.

With Unep's important mandates, there is a need for finance to be enhanced.

“I note with concern that financing from the UN’s regular budget and voluntary funds remains insufficient for Unep to effectively deliver.  I therefore urge the UN General Assembly to secure new, substantial, and reliable funding from its regular budget to provide consistent and sustainable support for UNEP's crucial work,” Ruto said.

He urged donors to increase their voluntary contributions, recognising the urgent and vast scope of current environmental challenges.

In 2017, Ministry of Environment banned the use of plastic carrier bags through a gazette notice dated February 27.

The ban came into effect in August of that year.

Today, being found in possession of plastics attracts a fine of between Sh2 million and Sh4 million, or a jail term of between one and two years, or both.

Before 2017, about 100 million plastic bags were used in Kenyan supermarkets every year, with severe consequences for the environment.

But despite the ban, plastics are still in the market.

Some banned plastics get into the country through porous borders, as some countries are yet to ban them.

It is suspected that they come from Tanzania, Somalia and Uganda.

During the high level meeting, Somalia President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud announced plans to ban the importation of plastics into his country.

Authorities have faced challenges in Garissa, Mandera, Moyale, Busia, Taita Taveta, Namanga and other border posts.

Nema called for uniformity in the ban.

On June 5, 2019, Kenya further banned single-use plastics on beaches, national parks, forests and conservation areas.

The ban prohibits visitors from carrying single-use plastic water bottles, disposable cups, plates, cutlery and straws into national parks, forests, beaches and conservation areas.