• The destructive human activities has compounded the already worsening situation and is solely to blame for the climate change.
• Wanton and reckless depletion of forests and water towers, mindless burning of fossil fuel, illegal logging for industrial and charcoal fuel and untamed emission of carbon wastes have infuriated Mother Nature
Image: STATE HOUSE
When former British Prime Minister Boris Johnson quipped that it is one minute to midnight on doomsday o’clock ,many thought he was jabbering to excite a constellation of world leaders in Glasgow, Scotland.
It now emerges the former British Premier was ahead of his time with his captivating wit as effects of global warming and climate change continue to wreak havoc and cause untold lose of life and property.
Here at home, the climate change was an alien phenomenon. It was a remote catastrophe that only visited countries abroad.
Growing up decades ago, farmers used to prepare their land for plantation with utmost precision. Rains would fall on specific months and dates without fail. Pastoralists tending their livestock would shepherd them to fresh pasture and water with pin point accuracy. The weather was predictable and reliable.
Now, the vagaries of bad weather is devastating life, property and iconic wildlife heritage. The health and future are imperiled.
The world is witnessing unprecedented levels of extreme weather from rising sea and lake levels, severe drought, deadly floods and biting cold. Destructive tornadoes, hurricanes and killer heat waves are common occurrence.
Consequently, the destructive human activities has compounded the already worsening situation and is solely to blame for the climate change. Wanton and reckless depletion of forests and water towers, mindless burning of fossil fuel, illegal logging for industrial and charcoal fuel and untamed emission of carbon wastes have infuriated Mother Nature . And the unforgiving mother nature once violated, has the knack to furiously revenge.
Kenya is grappling with arguably worse drought in her history. Over four million people are facing starvation, vegetation drying up , wildlife heritage dying in hundreds of thousands and significant resources meant for heath and education being diverted to alleviate human suffering. This is a sobering reality check for all well meaning Kenyans to take personal responsibility to conserve the God-given environment.
God, in His infinite wisdom, bequeathed us a magnificently clean environment safe for human and wildlife habitation. We owe our next generation a better world with better quality of life.
As the historic Conference of Parties on UN framework on Convention on Climate Change in Sham El Sheikh, Egypt, closes, time is nigh for our county governments to stand up and be counted as major drivers of environmental conservation.
Counties will be instrumental in ambitious project of planting over 15 billion trees to shore up the forest cover across the 16 million hectares.
As states and countries push for compensation for bearing the brunt of climate change, counties in Kenya should equally strive to adapt key mechanisms that will ensure safer environment for their people. By taking charge, key planks of government agenda that include quality healthcare, food security, industrialization and good sanitation will be realised .
That said, it behoves the industrialised nations to provide technical and financial assistance to poor countries to help combat global warming as a way of compensation. It is saddening to see that worlds richest one per cent are responsible for the deadly carbon emission with 50 per cent of the poorest countries bearing the brunt of lose and damage worth billions of dollars.
I concur in spades with the sentiments of President William Ruto in Egypt when he said lengthy discussions at COPs, with its stalling, delaying tactics and procrastination that have hampered implementation and delivery, is simply cruel and unjust.
“We cannot afford to spend more time skirting around the real issues and we must break out of the open- ended, process-focused discussions we are trapped in. Further delay will make us busy spectators as calamity wipes out lives and livelihoods,” the President said.
At the Senate, we shall take a leading role as the Upper House by supporting President Ruto’s efforts to make carbon credit Kenya’s next significant export and enacting good legislation that will ensure direct benefits to the communities .
Senator Aaron Cheruiyot is the leader of the Majority in the Senate