Go beyond rhetoric and boardroom talk to safeguard the environment

The United Nations Environment Assembly (UNEA - 4) held in Nairobi has ended on a high note, with rich resolutions and commitments on the table.

What remains to be seen, however, is whether these will bear any fruit. We should appreciate the fact that President Uhuru Kenyatta gave a pledge that Kenya will have 10 per cent forest cover by 2022. However, hard questions must be asked. How can we discuss forest cover without transiting to renewable forms of energy? Statistics show that three in five households in Kenya depend on wood fuel for energy, a scenario that has led to degradation of forests.