BEYOND THE WORLD ENVIRONMENTAL DAY, 2014

The 31^st World Environmental Day will be marked on June 5^th this week. This is an important day to increase publicity on the need for improving the state of our environment. I see it as a day where the public demonstrates their grass-root actions that have had a positive impact on our environment. Celebrating this day further leads to what I would call transformational thinking, something that we at Mazingira Safi Initiative strive to achieve. The theme for this year’s celebrations is “Small Island Development States”. I guess for most of us Kenyans we may not be aware what this theme is all about.

Let me give you a brief rundown. Human activities over the past half a century have led to some devastating effect on the planet. The low lying islands nations are some of the victims left to absorb the negative effect of climate change, which is also their foremost development challenge. Arguably, some of them are likely to be submerged when sea levels continue rising. You can imagine a situation where an entire country vanishes by being submerged in water because all the arctic ice has melted and the sea levels have risen to unprecedented heights. While this still remains imaginary, the coastal lines of these islands are faced with a situation where their biodiversity is destroyed by a combined effect of climate change, hence the need to turn the spotlight on these low lying islands during this year’s world environmental day.

Image source: UNEP

 But as the world awaits to celebrate this day, we as MSI intend to continue showing that it is possible to reduce the impact of human activities on the environment by inspiring grass-root actions where we are.  We will continue to make our contribution count in raising our voices and not the sea levels. 

However, one big challenge we face is that of changing people’s mindsets and developing a culture of personal responsibility. This is a challenge that cannot be addressed overnight. It takes resilience and moving a step further to inspire people, especially the young generation, before we can begin to realize transformation thinking. It can be hard to measure such an attribute but it is easy to notice it because it is evident in culture and behaviors. For instance, I know Kenyans have a tendency of improper littering in their own country. But, meet the same Kenyans in Dubai or in London they would not do the same thing. (I have used the word “Kenyans’ loosely because I know a few places in Kenya where people do not litter improperly). This shows the extent of the challenge because the privilege to travel to such cities is mainly with the educated Kenyans. Essentially, we have to adopt a culture of personal responsibility towards the environment and it starts with those who are informed.  

However, looking beyond the World Environmental Day, MSI will continue to unite communities to love and take care of their environment. Unity is important in mitigating causes of climate change. No matter where we live, we all have an individual responsibility to protect the environment. The longer we take waiting for someone else to do it, the more the damage is caused. So, I think, there is no better time to start than now. 

"The planet Earth is our shared island, let us join forces to protect it." -Ban Ki Moon

Article written by Kelly Wale