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Strive for sustainable environmental policies
2006-04-11 09:01:36
By Editor
Notable during the just concluded 7th East African Community Summit is the signing of a protocol by the leaders committing themselves to jointly address environmental issues and concerns.
There is no doubt, the region shares a myriad of environmental concerns.
Deforestation and commercial exploitation of wetlands have brought about climate change and decreased rainfall on massive scale across eastern Africa.
Already, the three East African countries are contenting with power outages and rationing, occasioned by low water levels in hydroelectric power generation dams and the Lake Victoria.
Given the scenario, we are of the view that the region is indeed grappling with an environmental catastrophe.
Without being prophets of doom, for instance, according to a March 2006 report from the University of Cape Town, global warming could cause a 25 per cent drop in surface water across Africa by end of the century.
According to the study, even a 10 per cent drop in rain in marginal, semi-arid areas like much of the horn of Africa’s lowland, can lead to rivers running dry, lakes shrinking and wetlands withering.
Given the foregoing, it is then imperative that the regional governments act collectively, and singularly, in trying to save the environment.
It is encouraging even though, to note that among others, the protocol, also binds the three EAC partner states to formulate common policies, strategies and laws to protect the environment.
We therefore hail the government for the recent measures announced, including the banning of plastic bags and removing livestock from water catchment areas,etc, aimed at stemming the monumental environmental degradation. The move is timely, considering the appalling state of environmental degradation in the country now.
It is important for the regional governments and our government, in particular to understand that so far, the measures recently announced are good at the national level and interest, but hostile to the ordinary citizen whose income and survival is based on trees, livestock and plastic materials among others.
We do appreciate the fact that environmental management issues are complex and that whatever decision one makes to address a problem, it may not go down well with others or may deny them a livelihood.
But as environmental pundits opine, in announcing the measures to try and salvage the environment, the government could be addressing the symptoms and not the root cause of wanton environmental degradation.
We believe the government ought to design strategies to provide alternative means of livelihood for those who are drastically affected by the announced measures.
Compassionately and for posterity, there is need for a transitional period meant to prepare people, including equipping them with environmental awareness and education for sustainable use of environment.
But all said and done, we believe the government’s move might not yield desired fruits if it will not involve the larger EAC region.
It is, in fact, not in dispute that environment is a global issue, we can do our best, but if our plans and strategies do not correlate with neighbouring Kenya and Uganda, we may not be able to solve the problem.
The three countries share an ecosystem and that is why it was deemed prudent to come up with a protocol to harmonise all the pertinent issues relating to environment, ranging from laws, policies and strategies geared towards its protection.
It is crucial to underline the fact that as the regional trading bloc undertake all within its means to foster economic development, it ought to remain prime to policy formulators that guarantee success.
Environmental degradation has always accompanied development.
But for the development world, a lot has been done to reverse the trend to guarantee development but still sustain the environment.
This, we believe, is where our governments ought to emphasise - progress with a sustainable environment.
As it is already manifesting in the region, the cost of progress that negates environmental sustainability is enormous to bare.
Consider that some big ships can not at the moment dock on shores of Lake Victoria because of a drop in water levels.
The three EAC partners are paying heavily for the shortfall in electric power generation as manifested in inflation.
The drought induced famine has exacerbated the situation.
This only points to the need for an expeditious delivery on environmental issues and concerns on the part of all and sundry.
It is the duty of individuals, governments and the corporate to do exactly that.
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