Kenya to Cooperate with Civil Society in Future Climate Deals

By Henry Neondo

NAIROBI---Kenya will cooperate with her civil society groups in future climate change and environment negotiations, the Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Environment Ali Dawood Mohammed has said.

 Speaking on the sidelines of the 12th Special Session of the UNEP Governing Council/Global Ministerial Environment Forum currently ongoing in Nairobi, Mr Mohammed said the position adopted by the government has been informed by the process to the UN-sponsored 17th Conference of Parties held in Durban, South Africa between November-December, also known as COP17.

 He lauded the African civil society for their role in COP17 and said the civil society helped African governments concretize on their positions during the negotiations in Durban, South Africa last November.

 The PS said “climate change undoubtedly remains the most important challenge of our time and efforts to address our economic challenges without factoring its effects are futile. Climate change should continue to inform all public discourses and developmental policy”.

 He said Kenya, like any other part of Africa, is already hit by the ravages of climate change and cited frequent droughts in Northern Kenya and the Sahel and recurrent floods in parts of lower Western region as pointers that Kenya is already feeling the effects of climate change..

 Supporting the PS, Mr Mithika Mwenda, Coordinator of the Pan African Climate Justice Alliance (PACJA), a coalition of 300 civil society organizations in 45 African countries, said Africa has its own aspirations whose development agenda should not be sacrificed at the altar of mere promises based on pledges that have time and again failed to be honoured by the developed countries.

 “Africa should consolidate its position and avoid being divided by issues that have no relevance to the continent. We have previously witnessed attempts by forces outside the continent to divide Africa so as to achieve narrow selfish interests that do not augur for the poor, he said.

He urged African ministers of environment present to stick to the clarion call of one Africa, one voice—striving to hang together or else be hanged separately.

 Augustine Njamnshi, representative of the Central African PACJA chapter said Africa’s previous dealing with the developed world has not been smooth.

 “We have seen trust being dented. Previous pledges to fight climate change have not been honoured by the west,” he said adding that African ministers of environment should not be taking the negotiators from the north at their word.

 Mr Fredrick Njau of the Heinrich Boll Foundation said climate justice advocates seek to have equity in the climate change discussions.

 He said during the last UN-sponsored conference of parties 17 held in Durban, South Africa, African civil societies proved that much can be achieved if people stood together and speak with one voice and well-coordinated.

 He said African civil societies are present to tell the governments where they may not be delivering on the negotiations. “Africa must continue to ask for justice even if the west denies responsibility over climate change,” he said.

 Nelson Muffuh, Millennium Campaign for Africa said the world can not end poverty at the expense of the environment.

 He said the future must be built in a manner that does not deny the future generations, especially for the marginalized and the poor.