Lessons from Wangari Maathai on environment

NAIROBI: This week we mark the fourth anniversary of the passing on of Nobel laureate Prof Wangari Maathai. A woman of many firsts, the late Maathai left an impact that might take long for another African to match after her death from cancer on September 25, 2011. Not because it is an impossible feat. Rather, it is due to the total selflessness and full commitment needed for such exceptional leadership. Starting off her career as a graduate of veterinary medicine, she soon swapped the animal kingdom with a higher calling as an environmentalist and human rights activist.

Her contribution to environmental conservation and social welfare was so compelling at a global scale that, in 2004, she became the first African woman to be awarded the Nobel Peace Prize. Indeed, the Norwegian Nobel Committee cited her unwavering efforts in “sustainable development, democracy and peace”, adding that she “stands at the front of the fight to promote ecologically viable social, economic and cultural development in Kenya and in Africa”. “ In response, Maathai said: “I believe the Nobel committee was sending a message that protecting and restoring the environment contributes to peace; it is peace work ... I always felt that our work was not simply about planting trees. It was about inspiring people to take charge of their environment, the system that governed them, their lives, and their future.”

Seemingly, Maathai was ahead of her time and had foreseen quite early the progressive environmental degradation that is leading to global warming. In 1977, she started the Green Belt Movement (GBM), a community based crusade that encouraged women to plant trees in their local environments. The movement spread to other African countries and has contributed to planting of more than 30 million trees. According to recent research, forest loss due to agriculture, forestry and other land use is responsible for about 25 per cent of the world’s total greenhouse emissions. Environmental protection has now taken a wider scope and environmental matters cannot be isolated from the wider issues of governance. The narrative has now gone beyond protecting and preserving flora and fauna to a holistic approach of addressing human rights and reducing poverty. Indeed, at one point Maathai was forced by circumstances to dabble in politics as she fought off the then ruling Kanu party attempts to hive off forested areas for real estate development. She became Tetu MP from 2002 to 2007.

Visiting the US this week where he addressed Congress and the UN General Assembly, the Pope warns that the current economic model based on capitalism is no longer sustainable. He has gone as far as terming capitalism as evil due to the fact less than 10 per cent of the world’s population control the vast of global resources amidst widespread poverty. The Pontiff has also attributed destruction of the environment to capitalism’s insatiable thirst for the world’s resources.

Just like Maathai did in GBM, the fight against global warming has now become a global social movement with civil society, including women and youth groups, taking a leading role to ensure that we live a stable legacy for future generations; if not me, then who? We need more people like her who can inspire and influence individuals and communities to take climate action, and institute mitigation and adaption measures of the devastating consequences. The Pope and US President have raised alarm saying action against climate change cannot be put on hold any longer. It is this generation that must act. Waiting for the next generations to do so will be too late. Companies around the world are also increasingly being put to task to show tangible measures to ensure their operations are environmentally sustainable.