Treat the earth well. It was not given to you by your parents. It is loaned to you by your children.
On the 8th October 2021, the UN Human Rights Council declared clean, healthy and sustainable environment as a human right. This commitment imposed a duty on each state to take measures to ensure realization of this right. However, in Kenya, the right had already been enshrined in Article 42 of the country’s 2010 Constitution.
KELIN is committed to promoting the full enjoyment of health-related rights for all, and realization of article 42 is key to ensuring a just, healthy, and safe future for generations to come. Global climate change and pollution threaten the existence of communities, endanger flora and fauna, and our planet. Thus, KELIN takes the sacred responsibility to advocate for the care of the earth and its inhabitants by campaigning for sustainable legal environment mitigating climate change, promoting clean air and water, and protecting wildlife.
As Kenyans observe Mazingira Day on October 10th, it’s crucial to reflect on the significance of this day and its alignment with the constitutional provisions safeguarding environmental rights. Mazingira day is dedicated to environmental conservation activities, including tree planting. This initiative aligns with the government’s goal of planting 15 billion trees over the next ten years, fostering a culture of environmental stewardship among Kenyan citizens.
Article 69(2) of Kenya’s Constitution 2010, highlights the importance of public participation in environmental management, ensuring that communities have a voice in decisions affecting their natural surroundings. The Constitution further empowers individuals to seek legal recourse to enforce their right to a clean and healthy environment, fostering accountability and justice. Water levels in Lakes Victoria and Baringo have risen in recent years and necessitated a court action seeking state action to mitigate over the flooding concern that is yet to be determined. Discharge of industrial effluence into these water bodies also affects the health and economic livelihoods of the people.
Over the years, KELIN has partnered with government actors such as the Ministry of Land, Kenya, National Land Commission (NLC), National Research Institution, academia, and civil societies to host the National Research Conference focused on climate change mitigation through land management. Human action on the land affects climate change and healthy environment. These efforts are concerted to ensure the realization of the entitlements under the constitution. Moreover, KELIN has partnered with the NLC and 14 county governments to organize the Lake Region Economic Block Fora to promote environmental justice. The fora held in 2022 and 2023 focused on sustainable exploitation of the natural resources while ensuring right to clean and healthy environment is protected. Use of traditional knowledge for environmental conservation was central to the discussion and participants were urged to replicate those efforts to ensure food security with minimal to none effect on the environment.
Marking mazingira day gives opportunity for the people jointly with their leadership at various levels to take action such as land restoration, afforestation, create awareness on waste management, sharing of traditional environment conservation and production knowledge to ensure a sustainable environment for future generations.
Mazingira day offers a vital opportunity to not only celebrate our environmental rights but also to reflect on our responsibilities. By engaging in conservation activities and advocating for land restoration, we can collectively contribute to a cleaner, healthier environment for ourselves and future generations. Let us honor this day by taking actionable steps towards restoring and protecting our natural heritage. KELIN in an effort to rebuilding lives, advocates for reclaiming and realization of clean and healthy environment.
