Written by Eugiene Ambaka
The ongoing climate change conference of parties (COP) in Glasgow Scotland, under the United Nations (UN), Paris Agreement is a landmark multilateral climate change binding agreement that brought all nations into a common cause to undertake ambitious efforts to combat climate change and adapt to its effects. Every five years’ countries strengthen their climate commitments through the nationally determined contributions (NDCs), where they decide their actions towards cutting global emissions and holding global heating to 1.5C above pre-industrial times, with current NDCs interventions not even promising to cut global emissions to the intended target of 1.5C or even the weaker goal of 2C, with the current NDCs trajectory amounting to a reduction target of 2.4C of global warming.
With many ambitious side sectoral agreements which are not part of the COP but more of willing coalitions among the ratified 196 countries, towards stopping deforestation, phasing out coal, and climate finance to poorer nations to facilitate their adaptation and mitigation strategies. The interventions are hard to track and quantify their impact towards cutting global emissions even if fully implemented. The firm and reliable 2030 country pledges still only add up to the 2.4C achievement pathway at best, with proposals from the climate vulnerable forum that want to initiate an annual voluntary ambition mechanism under which nations report yearly to raise their ambitions.
The other proposal from the UN climate chief Christiana Figueres and others that countries need to strengthen their current NDCs in 2023 rather than in 2025, with present negotiations focused on getting more finance for adaptation, loss, and damage which is crucial for most vulnerable nations currently afflicted by the devastating climate change.
Kenya has put forth an ambitious target of reducing emissions by 32% of greenhouse gas (GHG) by 2030 relative to the business as usual scenario, towards the sustainable development agenda. Waste generation globally is high with an expected peak by the year 2100. Solid waste is a major contributor to greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, through unregulated dumping of waste. With estimate suggestions that 2.6 billion tonnes of CO2-equivalents will originate from waste in 2050, with potent methane from decomposing organic waste being the largest GHG contributor with up to 5-10 percent. Mismanaged waste contributes to a plethora of negative impacts, including global emissions and climate change. However, if waste is properly managed it can lead to the attainment of a clean environment, reduce GHG emissions, and contribute wealth generation through a sustainable circular economy approach. Sustainable collection, recovery, and recycling of waste are crucial in creating economic opportunities whilst simultaneously cutting the negative impacts of waste. With estimates of about 8 billion dollars being projected to be pumped into the African economy each year through waste management, the recycling sector has a huge potential for wealth generation.