Uhuru pushes for reduced greenhouse gas emissions
Bernard Gitau @benagitau
President Uhuru Kenyatta has assured that the country is in the process of reviewing upward, its commitment to of reducing Greenhouse Gas (GHG) emissions from 30 per cent to 32 per cent by 2030.
Speaking during a virtual Climate Ambition Summit hosted by the United Kingdom government, the President stated that the country would update its Nationally Determined Contributions (NDC) by the December 31, 2020 deadline.
“To implement the required mitigation and adaptation actions for the updated NDC, we will require $62 million (Sh6 billion) between 2020 and 2030,” noted the President.
NDCs are at the heart of the Paris Agreement and they embody efforts by each country to reduce national emissions and adapt to the impacts of climate change.
Kenya’s total GHG emissions in 2013 were 60.2 million metric tons of carbon dioxide, totaling 0.13 per cent of global GHG emissions.
The agriculture sector emitted 62.8 per cent of total emissions, followed by the energy sector (31.2 per cent), industrial processes sector (4.6 per cent), and waste sector (1.4 per cent).
More than 70 world leaders where nations were called upon to bring new plans for tackling the climate crisis graced the meeting.
With climate breakdown continuing to rage around the world this year, including in Africa, with devastating locust swarms driven by climate change, this meeting was a crucial opportunity for countries, to put the world on a safe path by cutting their GHG emissions and offering support for the most vulnerable.
Mohamed Adow, the director of Nairobi-based climate and energy think tank, Power Shift Africa, said it was particularly pleasing to see 10 African leaders invited to take part in the summit, demonstrating how Africa is showing global green leadership on this most critical issue.
The 10 African countries that participated in the summit are Kenya, Democratic Republic of Congo, Ethiopia, Gabon, Malawi, Mauritius, Niger, Nigeria, Rwanda and Zimbabwe.
“As an African, I was proud to see leaders from my continent being part of the solution to this global problem and sharing an international platform with other heads of state from around the world,” he said.
