Kenya and all Africa are affected by climate change as much as the rest of the world, so Parliamentarians must step in where governments have failed in order to achieve global unity of action against greenhouse gas emissions and other environmentally unsustainable practices, says a leading Kenyan Parliamentarian and academic.
Prof. the Hon. Dr Margaret Kamar,
MP, in Nairobi. Prof. Kamar has been an Orange Democratic Movement Member of the National Assembly since 2007. She is a former Member of the Speaker’s Panel, the Budget Committee and ACP-EU Parliament, and was a nominated Member of the East African Legislative Assembly from 2001 to 2006. After writing this article, she was appointed as Assistant Minister for Environment and Mineral Resources.
Environmental issues have dominated the agenda of the international system since the United Nations Conference on the Human Environment in Stockholm, Sweden, in 1972. The Stockholm conference was the first formal meeting of the world’s leaders to raise political and public awareness of the environmental issues around the globe.
Since then, environmental issues have shaped international diplomatic and political interactions. Climate change has earned prominence in recent times due to its devastating and irreversible consequences that prove to be a great threat to humanity and other life forms on Earth.
The climate change problem Climate change is marked by an increase in global temperatures (global warming) with associated
14 | The Parliamentarian | 2010: Issue Three - Kenya
Prof. the Hon. Dr Margaret Kamar, MP
changes in the other weather conditions, such as precipitation and other extreme weather conditions. Global warming is caused by the greenhouse effect on the Earth enhanced by the accumulation of greenhouse gases (GHGs) such as carbon dioxide, water vapour, ozone, methane, nitrous oxides and chlorofluorocarbons in the atmosphere. The accumulation of GHGs
leads to trapping of more solar heat radiation near the Earth's surface within the atmosphere. This prevents heat from being reflected from the Earth back into space, consequently increasing global temperatures. Carbon dioxide constitutes 76 per cent of the total GHGs in the atmosphere. Its increasing concentration intensifies its long- term effects on the environment. According to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), the global average surface temperatures are predicted to rise in the range of 1.5 degrees to 5.8 degrees Celsius by 2100 relative to 1990 levels. Evidence also indicates that a few degrees of warming from 1.5o C would be significant enough to cause a major effect on the global climate and increase the intensity of the impacts of climate change. Human activities are largely responsible for the increase in the