Green Podium

African Youth Initiative on Climate Change (AYICC-k) in partnership with Nai Ni Who festival and other partners is organizing a clean up event on the 19th of July (Saturday). The clean up event aims to; a. Mark the Nai Ni Who festival 2014 b. One of the follow-up event after the ‘We Care For City Park’ event that mark the annual World Environment Day on 5th of June c. A build up for a three-month campaign aimed to raise awareness on the depreciating state of the park and advocate for proper rehabilitation, conservation and maintenance of the same The clean up will mobilize volunteers especially youth from learning institutions to do a; A. Cleanup and a later clean up competition, B. Nature walk, C. Art and Graffiti advocacy based expo, D.Butterfly expo and E. live band performances. Nai Ni Who is an initiative spearheaded by the GoDown Arts Centre whose aim is to mobilize every Nairobi resident in different sectors to celebrate themselves and the rich diversity of the city’...

Kenya is currently facing a number of environmental challenges mainly as a result of over-exploitation of the available natural resources, pollution and release of wastes into the environment. This has led to degradation of the natural environment. Among the environmental challenges in Kenya are as follows; 1. Pollution Pollution mainly affects land, water and air. It has had various effects on plants, animal and human health. Inadequate waste treatment facilities and irregular collection and disposal methods have only worked to worsen the situation consequently making the quality of the environment poor. 2. Waste Management Human activities are the main causes of waste generation. These wastes can be in various forms including solid, liquid or gaseous. Most of these wastes end up being illegally dumped due to lack of proper technologies and facilities for waste management, hence they accumulate in the environment and some are discharged into fresh water as effluent. This ha...

If i was the last person in existence, I would not trigger off a nuclear weapon to destroy the earth. I would allow nature to continue existing on its own even with the absence of human beings. This is because most ecosystems can always regulate themselves through new births and deaths. Nature has the ability to control itself even without humans. Most of the elements of nature such as animals and plants, need each other to exist. With the remaining plants and animals, nature can continue to survive even without the presence of human beings. One reason why I wont destroy the earth with a nuclear weapon is the fact that nature within itself has some value. Deep ecology states that nature has a value independent of its connection to human beings. This means that even without considering the importance of nature to human beings there will always be some value which it has. Deep ecology is a branch of ecological philosophy that considers human kind as an important part of the environme...

Environmentalists from all over the world will this week be gathering in Nairobi for the first session of the United Nations Environment Assembly (UNEA) which is scheduled for 23rd to 27th of June 2014. The venue of this meeting will be at the UNEP headquarters in Gigiri. Among the expected guests will be the United Nations secretary general Ban ki Moon. It is approximated that there would be around 1,200 participants from various parts of the universe. The theme of this meeting will be "sustainable development goals and the post-2015 development agenda, including sustainable consumption and production". This aims to bring forth the new targets being formulated that will succeed the present Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) which were targets set for 2015. Another key area of focus will be the illegal trade in wildlife and wildlife trophys. This comes at a time when poaching has become rampant in Kenya with several elephants and rhinos being reported killed at an alarmin...

lets all take the initiative to care and conserve our environment to avoid catastrophy. The eco-documentary called 'Home' tells it all. You can watch it below through the following link. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jqxENMKaeCU

Kenya mostly relies on hydro-generated electric power. This means that dams where these plants are based need to have enough water to run the turbines constantly. The dams are fed by various rivers which originate from different water catchment areas. It is in light of this need tha   t Kenya’s electricity producing company KenGen came up with the idea of the Great Dams Race which will happen on 14 th June 2014 at the Masinga Dam. The aim of the race is to encourage and support local efforts for environmental conservation. The theme of this race will be ‘You Run, Kenya goes Green’. Funds raised from this event will go towards efforts to conserve the forests within the seven forks ecosystem. The seven forks dams are the source of about 50% of Kenya’s power supply on the national grid. There will be lots of fun activities for the whole family including boat rides, picnics, entertainment and a tour of the seven forks dams. The race is open to individuals and corporates t...

Climate change has been known to lead to global warming which results in rise of sea levels due to the melting of glaciers. A major cause of climate change is the release of carbon into the atmosphere. We all have a role to play in this. We breathe in oxygen and breathe out carbon dioxide. Even a child born at this minute is said to be a contributor to carbon emissions into the atmosphere. Plants utilise carbon dioxide in the process of photosynthesis and that is why it is very important to plant more trees and increase vegetation cover as a way of combating climate change. Each one of us can take up the initiative and we all can make a difference from that for example one can decide to plant a tree on his/her birthday, walking or cycling to work rather than taking motor vehicle, utilizing renewable sources of energy such ass solar and wind power among other initiatives. We don’t have to wait for others so that we can do these things in a group, this can be a self-driven in...

World Environment Day 2014 will be marked on Thursday 5th June. 2014 has been declared by the United Nations General assembly as ‘the international year of small islands states’ and in line with that, this year’s theme of the WED celebrations will be ‘Raise your Voice Not the Sea Level’. World Environment Day has been an avenue for UNEP to encourage positive environmental action from all spheres around the world. This year’s theme aims at creating awareness on the effects of climate change and also call for the reduction in carbon emissions. Climate change has been known to lead to global warming which causes rise in sea levels. In Kenya the celebrations are organised by the National Environmental Management Authority, and there will be a national event that will be held in Ngomeni area, Magarini Sub County in Kilifi County that is at the coast that is already witnessing the effects of rise in sea level.