COP 26 PROTEST NOTE: KENYA TO SUBMIT FLAWEDLENT ETF - NATIONALLY DETERMINED CONTRIBUTIONS.
TO:
His Excellency. Rt Hon Alok Sharma MP.
COP 26 Presidency Designate.
31st
October 2021.
Salutations Sir.
The 26th Conference of Parties takes place in Glasgow from today 31st October 2021 and takes about two weeks of deliberations and resolutions with far reaching impacts and consequences.Amoung the key objective of the event is to finalize the Paris Rulebook (the detailed rules that makes the Paris Agreement operational) This environmental coverngence is of great significant to almost every human being accross the globe, coming after the world witnessed the catastrophic impacts of airborne virus named Novel Corona Virus.
193 Parties adopted the Paris Agreement in 2015, and through it established an Enhanced Transparency Framework (ETF). Countries are now actively engaged in establishing the necessary arrangements to implement the ETF, questions are arising related to the operationalization of the ETF and enhancing the current measurement, reporting, and verification system under the Convention and the Kyoto Protocol, to the ETF, with countries lacking laws on Public Participation and meaningful engagements.
An NDC under Article 4 is communicated by Parties every five years (That is Article 4.9 of the Paris Agreement) There is a relationship between the NDC and the ETF as Parties need to provide a description of their Nationally Determined Contributions in their BTR against which progress made will be tracked (18/CMA.1, para. 64). The information on a Party’s NDC that is required to be provided in the BTR is similar, but not identical, to the information that is necessary for transparency, clarity and understanding in their NDC (4/CMA.1, para. 7).
We the environmentalist and social justice advocates believes that the link between population dynamics and sustainable development is strong and inseparable, as reflected in Principle 8 of the 1992 Rio Declaration on Environment and Development which states that. “To achieve sustainable development and a higher quality of life for all people, States should reduce and eliminate unsustainable patterns of production and consumption and promote appropriate demographic policies.” Rio Declaration, Principle 8 (UN 1992).
Since the 1972 Stockholm Conference an extra ordinary number of international environmental agreements have been concluded, today it’s estimated that over 1000 multilateral environmental agreements (MEAs) have been actualized between states and continents on the other hand over 1500 bilateral environmental agreement are operational across the globe.
Commonwealth Countries are faced with a post Brexit related upheavals, the Briton are forcing arm-twisting and conjuring countries in signing skewed multilateral trade agreements with most of its dominion regions mainly third world countries, some of this 25 years agreements and treaties are a clear violation of agreed principles of UN Charter and Paris Agreement, especially on matters touching on global commons, which emphasizes on “Leave No one Behind”
Since 2010 promulgation of Kenya Constitution, as most of African Countries deliberately have been circumventing principles of Free Prior and informed Consent by evading to establish law on Public Participation which has stagnated at National Assembly since 2016 spearheaded by former Attorney General-Current Senator Busia County, this is confounded by two outstanding verdicts given by Kenya High Court in petition No.E 263 of 2020 and Judicial Review Case 434 of 2015.
Recalling that the Paris Agreement acknowledges that Climate change is a common concern of humankind and that parties should ,when taking action when addressing climate change ,respect, promote and consider their respective obligations on human rights, the right to health, the rights of indigenous peoples, local communities, peasants, migrants, children, person with disabilities and people in vulnerable situations, including people living in small islands developing states and least developed countries, and in conditions of water scarcity, desertification, land degradations and drought, and the right to development as well as gender equality, the empowerment of women and intergenerational equity. “Leave No One Behind” seem to be a pipe dream to most of the developing countries.
The Kenya government through its
constitution mandates, has explicitly
right to environment as enshrined in the Bill of Rights, precisely Article 42
states every person in Kenya has the right to a clean and healthy environment,
which includes the right (a) to have the environment protected for the benefit
of present and future generations through legislative and other measures, the
state shall work to achieve and maintain a tree cover of at least ten per cent
of the land area of Kenya; protect and enhance intellectual property in, and
indigenous knowledge of, biodiversity and the genetic resources of the
communities, encourage public participation in the management, protection and
conservation of the environment, protect genetic resources and biological
diversity, establish systems of environmental impact assessment, environmental
audit and monitoring of the environment, eliminate processes and activities
that are likely to endanger the environment.
Taking cognizant that at the 47 Session of Human Rights Council-Agenda Item No. 3 Guided by United Nation Charter, Countries reaffirmed the UNFCCC and the Paris Agreement adopted Climate Change and the objectives and principles thereof, and emphasis that parties should, in all climate change-related actions fully respect, promote and consider their respective obligations on human rights.
UNFCCC secretariat/Negotiators, Kenya Country being a signatory to several Multilateral Environmental Agreements and nearing 2022 Presidential electioneering year, we take cognizant the good and commendable work the current regime has achieved, i.e the country has achieved milestone in efforts towards meeting its international obligations and specifically on Climate Actions related issues, such as ban on single use- plastic In Kenya, we are forefront in achieving 10 % tree cover , affordable clean energy for almost every household in Kenya. Embracing and incorporating Environmental education in school curriculum.
That Government of Kenya since ratification of Paris Agreement the Cabinet failed to hold a Climate Change Council meeting despite our request to do so in letter dated 20th December 2019 titled: Request for annual national climate change council meeting. The Climate Change Act 2016, grants the President responsibility to chair the meeting, article 7 (11) The council sitting is four times a year, to date since National Climate Change Council inception has been only been chaired twice, the 3 year term tenure of office holders expiring last year 2020. Its feared that funds and grants allocated to establish Counties Climate Change secretariat has been misappropriated, some mis-allocated for other unplanned uses, several counties have out rightly misused and redirected these funds.
Friends among COP 26 Objectives will be propelling countries to curtail deforestation, protect and restore ecosystems, Kenya country has achieved some of the above strides, we are greatly concerned by the country blind engagements in matters related to Environmental and trade linkages, without participation of its citizens matters such Multi Trillion Mining of-Lake Magadi ( Trona ) owned by an offshoot Britain Company –named Tata Chemicals (Its estimated that 80% of World fertlilizer, textile, glass and paints are mined from the Lake found in only two places in the world Kenya and Texas in US ) we also raise concern on 1.2 Million Acres Gulana Kulalu land and 18,000 Acre Yala Swamp Land in Kenya being targeted by multinationals for biofuels production becomes a Multilateralism flawdlent Agreement.
The 2013 WTO- Bali Agreement; Members agreed to a multilateralism trade deal amongst fatal clauses were on Agriculture and Food Security that members agreed to a four year peace clause, within which the countries with existing will be immune from subsidy complaints when purchasing food stocks to be distributed to their citizenly.
Agriculture Subsidies a so called green box subsidies, which explicitly
called for developed countries to support for land rehabilitation , soil conservation,
resources management ,drought management and flood control, rural employment
program, land ownership titles and settlement programs. It’s on the above that
we call UNFCCC to push Africa and third world countries and governments
towards fundamentally embracing
traditional/indigenous, local to global patterns of production and consumption.
We therefore call for UNFCCC to highlight to the African Countries the negative consequences of adoption of Multilateralism and bilateral Environment and Trade Agreements, in the same vein we call for strong principles guiding countries against activities that may contribute to escalation of climate change, with main focus targeting global commons.
We Kenyans concerned by massive illegal land annexation especially the 1.2Million Acre Gulana
Kulalu land and 18,000 Acre Yala Swamp. We the Kenyan citizen , environmentalists and
social justice advocates invoke 1973 Convention on International al
Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES) the 1992 convention on Biological Diversity in
line with Nagoya Protocol on access to Generic Resources and equitable
sharing of benefits Arising from their utilization to the Convention on Biological Diversity
We call for Kenya Government to adhere to 1998 Rotterdam Convention on the Prior, Informed Consent Procedures by engaging communities within the regions and areas where land expropriation is undertaken.
We reiterate to Kenya Government Delegation and civil society’s actors participating in the Cop26 event to push for renegotiated Multilateral Trade Agreement especially with its colonial master post Brexit, focusing on subsidies on production of fertilizer, chemicals, pesticides and subsidies to our farmers and its farming inputs.
We Call UNFCCC President, to strengthen Enhanced Transparency Framework through Public Participation laws. That lack of Public Participation Framework makes any biennial submission to international conventions a nugatory and must be treated with outmost contempt it deserves. Kenya looks forward towards requesting estimated cost of adaptation actions up to 2030 is USD 43,927 Million. 90% of the adaptation cost will require international support in form of finance, investment, technology development and transfer, and capacity building support, while 10% will be from domestic sources.
Thank You, looking forward
towards a meaningful engagement.
You’re sincerely.
Githinji Kamotho.
Director : East Africa Climate Change Network.
Email: eastafricaclimate@gmail.com
President: Bunge
La Mwanainchi
P.O.Box 8668-00200
Nairobi,Kenya.
Copied to:
1.Patricia
Espinosa –UNFCCC Executive Secretary.
2.Marianne
Karlsen-SBI Chair. http://tep-a.org/speakers/marianne-karlsen/
3.Tosi Mpanu
Mpanu –SBSTA-Chair
https://enb.iisd.org/media/tosi-mpanu-mpanu-drc-sbsta-chair-unfccc-sb2021-16june21-photo
|
4.
Convention on Biological Diversity Dr. Chris Kiptoo Principal
Secretary |
5. Enhanced
Transparency Framework- Email ....... etf@unfccc.int
6. Climate
Change Negotiators- E-mail: info@ciel.org
c/Avinyó 15 info@oidp.net
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