Written by Willy Kirui

On Monday, 13^th December, CEMASTEA hosted a climate change and environment summit. The event was marked with singing, dancing, recitation of poems and discussion on matters relating to climate change. Five secondary schools, Kenya Inter-University Environmentalists Students Association (KIUESA) members, and four guest speakers participated in the event. Climate Change Action aims to advance the climate change aspects, including resilient, inclusive development approaches   with a focus on sustainable poverty eradication and shared prosperity strategies.

Ms Cynthia of CYFUND Africa and Md Angwenyi of British High Commission Climate Change and Environmental Advisor, presents tree seedlings to environmental students who attended the Climate Action Summit at Sugiyama Hall, CEMASTEA

The Keynote speaker during the Summit was Ms Ann Angwenyi, Climate Change and Environmental Adviser at the British High Commissioner. She called on the students to be ambassadors of the change they wanted to see in their community. They could model this by personal activities such as planting trees and sensitising public members against cutting down trees by finding alternatives to fuel. She emphasised embracing renewable energy, investing in hydropower for home and industry. Ms Anita Soina, the founder of the Sonia Foundation that aims to empower the Maasai Community, informed that her organisation had put more effort into educating the young and older people on the need to preserve the environment through arts and entertainment. She encouraged the students that it was not too late to be the environmental warriors and to always advocate for a clean and healthy environment.

Mr Isaac Oindo, an environmentalist at the Young Women Christian Association of Kenya, was glad to have had the opportunity to meet enthusiastic young environmentalists who are eager to preserve the environment for the better. He also urged the students to pursue Environmental Sciences as this could lead to fruitful careers. Ms Modestalyn, Chairperson, Kenya Inter-University Environmentalists Students Association (KIUESA), advised the students to use environmental clubs in high schools as a gateway to improve the environment. CEMASTEA has been at the forefront of promoting sustainable and inclusive development through the Education Sustainable Development (ESD) program. The students and guests attending the summit enjoyed a tour around the ESD projects at the Centre. These included the seedling nursery, organic garden, and sewage treatment site.

Environmental warriors were awarded gift packs of seedlings for planting in their schools. In closing the summit, Ms Cynthia Moses from the Cynthia Foundation Africa (CYFUND) urged the students to uphold and act on what they had learnt during the summit. She looked forward to them influencing other people on the importance of preserving the environment.