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GIOKO: Climate's not the problem, it's man

We don't just have a climate problem in our hands but a screaming black-and-white human problem.

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by KANYI GIOKO

Star-blogs12 September 2023 - 15:45
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In Summary


  • Our consumerism approach to life has brought upon us the consequences of not only ignoring the environment but also interfering with the balance of nature
  • All of us must join hands and change the only thing that is affecting and threatening our existence as a species in this universe—ourselves.

In the 21st century, the age of information, knowledge and enlightenment, we can barely feed ourselves despite all the skilled manpower that we process through the conveyor belt schooling system where pieces of paper matter more than our ability to adapt to the ever-changing environment.

The Africa Climate Summit 2023 concluded successfully in Nairobi. It was a huge success, hospitality and conference-wise. At least we got to see that the government can use a 600cc miniature electric ride and still get the job done while at it. This was a good practical part of the conference, and it was good while it lasted.

Let me delve into people change as opposed to climate change because as it is, the erratic climatic conditions that are affecting our existence are a direct reaction to the human activities that we have adapted in pursuit of industrialisation and globalisation at the expense of quality and naturalised life. I will keep my narration as simple as possible to resonate with Wanjiku and Kerubo on the ground.

The current wet conditions sweeping across the country (onset of El Nino) are yet another cycle of wastage of thousands of litres of rainwater that are going to be washed down the drainage systems and emptied into the mighty Indian Ocean while thousands of people who were experiencing famine a few months ago are now victims of flooding.

Imagine a situation where you lack food for lack of water followed by a period where you also lack food for having too much water. This, my dear people, is the dilemma we are in today. In the 21st century, the age of information, knowledge and enlightenment, we can barely feed ourselves despite all the skilled manpower that we process through the conveyor belt schooling system where pieces of paper matter more than our ability to adapt to the ever-changing environment.

Visit any university or college library and you will be met with top-notch ideas lying in academic fallow in well-protected corners, bound in nice hardcovers and labelled in golden writings, laden with brilliant innovations cutting across all fields of life but hardly used by the government nor the industry for any meaningful change in our lives.

The only cohort that seems to use this treasure trove of ideas are the academic conveyor belt students fishing for literature to pad their thesis or looking for inspirational gaps to fill in their pursuit for more or is it new knowledge. What exactly is the meaning of being given the power to read and write and do what appertains to the letters when we can't harvest water for sustainable food security to name but one critical area?

If we use the so-called lost tribes, ie, the communities that have defied the Western version of civilisation and education and held on to their traditions and way of life such as the Amazon tribes, we shall see a practical example of how we can live harmoniously with the environment.


These communities are indigenous peoples who avoid contact with outsiders. They are not backward and primitive relics of a remote past as depicted by elitist media rather they are our contemporaries and a vitally important part of humankind’s diversity. Where their rights are respected, they continue to thrive.

They have succeeded beyond measure in maintaining balanced forests in their catchment areas, even though they continue to face exploitation and abuse at the hands of industrialists and neo-modern capitalists who decimate their forests in search of profit. Their survival is under threat from violence, disease and racism. Many rights groups have advocated for these communities to be granted their lands and legal protection, but I digress.

It is therefore very clear that, for the communities where man has lived in harmony with the environment, the sustainability question doesn’t arise. Nature has its way of balancing the ecosystem and regenerating to ensure its survival.

While the isolated communities are the best guardians of the natural world, and evidence proves their territories are the best barriers to deforestation, we have quite the opposite in the industrialised, so-called civilised parts of the world.

We don't just have a climate problem in our hands but a screaming black-and-white human problem. Our consumerism approach to life has brought upon us the consequences of not only ignoring the environment but also interfering with the balance of nature due to greed and miseducation.

It's time to acknowledge that the world can survive without man, but man cannot last without the world. For this then all of us must join hands and change the only thing that is affecting and threatening our existence as a species in this universe—ourselves.

It is time to discuss 'Behaviour Change' because in this everything else will fall in place, in its designated default and sustainable settings and we shall all inherit a world that is better for us and our children. God bless you; God bless Kenya.

Career educationist and researcher

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