NAIROBI, Kenya, Apr 3 — President William Ruto has called for sustained efforts to enrich jurisprudence on environmental law in a bid to curtail further climate-related crises in Africa.
Ruto who spoke on Monday while officially opening the 3rd Symposium on Greening Judiciaries in Africa challenged courts to widen their scope beyond human rights and constitutional affairs in a bid to secure climate justice.
“Greening our judiciaries will be inevitably multi-sectoral and inter-disciplinary. Beyond local and international human rights, constitutional, environmental, trade and economic law, our judiciaries must be exposed to diverse fields such as ecology, economics, agriculture, food systems, trade and finance, carbon markets, energy and infrastructure,” he told delegates at the confrence.
Ruto termed pollution-dominated industrialization as unsustainable hence calling for concerted efforts to promote sustainable alternatives.
Ecologically responsible industrialization
“Africa is emphatic that although prosperity is an urgent goal to liberate our people from the indignity of poverty and inequality, the path of pollution is not an option,” he said.
“The African Union prefers a more ecologically responsible industrialization; one that promotes multisectoral climate resiliency in agriculture and food systems, water resources, energy, transport and infrastructure, among others,” Ruto told delegates.
The Head of State singled out the global financial system for being out of synch with prevailing needs even as he called for its recalibration to afford African nations cheaper funding for green initiatives.
“We also insist quite firmly that international development financing must be more appropriate for the needs of our existential moment, in terms of accessibility, affordability and adequacy.”
Ruto said African governments are committed to deploy the continent’s renewable resources to support efforts to reverse environmental degradation.
“Africa is abundantly endowed with all the resources required to power green industrialization. Our clean and green power potential is incomparable. Hydro, geothermal, wind and solar power potential is super abundant.”
Chief Justice Martha Koome had in her opening remarks called for enhanced knowledge sharing among African judiciaries to enrich jurisprudence on environmental law.
Koome stressed that regional dialogue is key to building on efforts to effectively respond to unique aspirations of the continent, and tackle emerging threats.
“We view hosting regional judiciaries dialogues as a means of fostering the development of an African jurisprudence that is responsive to the unique concerns and aspirations of our continent,” the CJ told delegates.
Koome termed the conference under the auspices of Africa Judicial Education Network on Environmental Law (AJENEL) as a crucial platform in promoting continuous knowledge building.
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