The Environmental Crisis Of Kenya And The United Nations Framework On Environmental Change

Environmental ethics has widely circled around human interactions with biotic ecosystems. Little voice has been given to city residents who are overexposed to environmental hazards. It is a subject rarely touched upon by mainstream environmentalist. Though conservation efforts receive much media attention and advocacy, environmental pollution in urban areas inhabited by minorities and the impoverished receive less attention despite it clearly being a grave injustice. It fact, it can be argued that minority and impoverished neighborhoods are deliberately targeted by corporations and governmental agencies because of the inherit vulnerability of the inhabitants. It is no secret that the impoverished in this country frequently live in areas characterized

Most importantly, he asserts that awareness and recognition are key factors to motivate change. At the individual level, this can be achieved through self-study of resources available online or through television programs, radio broadcasts, articles, or books. This might include researching things like food production or sustainable agricultural practices. At the community level, this can be achieved through urban gardening projects or famer’s markets, and a greater demand for low-tech solutions, such as public transit, biking routes or community walks. Additionally, with regards to the market system, we can demand things like food and clothing labels that provide more information about our consumptive choices and the people and places they affect. Economic equality is something Worthy also considers paramount in creating collective ecological change, namely because many potential solutions are not available to developing countries or impoverished individuals. Therefore, this book is largely directed at modern, ‘western’ societies, in the hopes that they can spearhead a movement which might positively reverberate on a global scale. As citizens of Kelowna and Canada, we compose a portion of this intended audience, and therefore we compose a part of the impending solutions described here. Worthy also cites the importance of public education, and informing students of the relationship between ecology, human activity, industry, and local environments. This is relevant for us as Geography 213 students, and more broadly as part of a student community, because we can participate directly in acquiring a greater understanding of the environment and serve to instill positive change. These things will all help contribute to a greater understanding of the environment and how we relate to the environment on a local and global scale. All in all,

The environmental crisis is actually two separate crises, although they share a common cause. Many could view it as a tree with two branches: One branch represents what is happening to our planet through the accumulation of heat-trapping gases. The second branch represents what is happening to us through the accumulation of inherently toxic chemical pollutants in our bodies.

High profile cases such as the Flint water crisis has brought environmental inequality and environmental racism into the limelight. As such, it is becoming a prominent social justice issue and a political talking point. However, there is much to suggest that environmental inequality is the result of economic factors. This paper therefore focuses on developing an understanding of environmental inequality from an economic perspective.

The purpose of this piece is to draw awareness to the many contradictions relating environmental justice movements and to create a society more conscious of decisions by considering consequences.

“We feel helpless in the face of our knowledge, and we’re not sure we want to know anything more,” (Steingraber 674). Due to the fact that this crisis has multiple causes, those who accept the responsibilities that go along with solving this environmental issue feel as though their to-do list is never done, filling with one problem after another. Often times these activists begin to feel helpless. There isn't just one cause of the problem but multiple. Sandra Steingraber stated “the environmental crisis is actually two crisis, although they share a common cause. You could view it as a tree with two main branches,”(672). She understands that it isn't just one single problem but multiple problems with the same cause. People may fix one “branch” but they don’t realize that there are other “branches” that needs to be

The Energy Crisis as stated in the textbook was an oil shortage or petroleum shortage and a high demand for it basically rising. In the United States and other following countries. “Americans found themselves parked for hours in mile long lines at gasoline stations” (America A Concise History 850). In the textbook it also said that gas prices took a significant increase to 40% and heat to 30%. If you think about it that is a great increase in percentages, so I know that the people felt helpless. On the other hand, Environmentalism in the U.S. seemed like from the text it was a movement that began on the first earth day we had on April 22. What basically happened was “20 million people gathered in communities across the country to express their support for a

Guha describes that environmental movements in the poor countries of South America developed quite differently from those in the rich nations of North America and Western Europe. Southern movements began as a challenge to the "postmaterialist values" of the North, according to which the backward South was incapable of developing any serious environmental movement until it became fully developed like the North. On the contrary, Guha then descirbes the environmentalism of the poor South is steps ahead of the North. This is because the southern environmental movements simultaneously demand social justice. This relationship is divorced in the environmental movements of the developed North. Guha sites the examples of radical environmental movements

The concept of ‘sustainable development’ is one that has faced heated debates for decades now. A seemingly harmless concept, it raises a lot of questions as to what it really entails and how exactly it can be achieved. But with more than 1.3 billion people living in abject poverty (less than $1.25 a day), and with a reported 22,000 children dying every day as a result of poverty (UNICEF), the debate for Sustainable Development becomes interesting as it questions the extremity of economic growth policies, in the war against poverty. Many note economic growth and development as the only tool for poverty alleviation. Roemer and Gugerty, for example, report that GDP growth of 10% per year is associated with income growth of 10% for the poorest 40% of the population. However, others question the extent to which economic growth should be put above other socio-economic factors. Lele points out that the focus on economic growth has led to important ecological and social sustainability, taking the backseat. He argues that due to strong emphasis on economic growth, not enough attention is paid to social equity, and economic stability within the development discourse.

The environmental science organisation say that “Economic development is a core area that can contribute to the social science of sustainable development, getting what we consume under control. It is also about giving people what they want without promising quality life especially in the developing world”. With that we fall into Social Development, which is “maintaining access to basic resources without promising the quality life”. For example the Bluefin Tuna used for sushi is not a sustainable resource, that is why they are farmed fish. In a sustainable sushi place they have no menus because they use the available resources they have access to. Having to farm the Bluefin Tuna is because we are overfishing this species, and if this species is starting to die out it will cause a ripple effect, not only to the marine life but to the life on land as well. The last pillar which is Economic protection, is self-explanatory. With Economic protection comes better water quality and better sanitation and economic growth with promoting jobs. The world is a large plank of wood and its on fire. The only thing left to conserve that plank is water, and sustainability is our water.

It is so natural, in our current world, to feel disengaged from the physical earth. In spite of desperate notices and heightening worry over the condition of our planet, many individuals became in touch with the normal world. Wangari Maathai invested decades of working with the Green Belt Movement to help ladies in provincial Kenya plant and maintain many trees. With their hands in the soil, these ladies frequently got themselves engaged and "at home" in a way they never did. Maathai wanted to confer that inclination to everybody, and trusts that the key lies in conventional qualities such as adore for the earth, self-improvement, appreciation and regard, and a pledge to benefit. Maathai wanted to create a value-driven society of people who consciously work for continued improvement of their livelihoods and a greener, cleaner world; to strive for better environmental management, community empowerment, and livelihood improvement using tree-planting as an entry point.

In order to live sustainably in a world with limited resources and increasing environmental, social and economic inequity it is vital for institutions, individuals and companies to examine the way

From creations such as iShack in Africa to local control over livelihood through resilience with SRI in India, these changers seek to promote local goals and direct community empowerment. Adaptation of local traditions to new issues like that of ecolocalism in Northeast Thailand or Rwanda in dealing with its genecide trials and government leaders are more examples that promote local society through a mutualistic relationship to a “modern” world. When combined with the sustainable goals of “development that meets the need of the present without compromising the ability of the future generations to meet their own needs”, they then offer a participatory route for longterm advancement(Williams 2004:100). Through the combination of locally-produced ideas and empowerment with strong sustainability goals, projects like urban wildscpaes in Mombasa come to live that benefit not only the communities in the face of climate change, but seek to reclaim instances of past developmental affliction. A true sustainable local change, “green landscapes have the potential to generate net social and ecological benefits under a range of future scenarios” (Kithiia 2011:263). Whether it be reclaiming land through sustainable green actions, or practices through local tradition, when grassroots movements promote both the advancement of their community and sustainability, USAID’s post-development

In Tanzania, the neoliberalization of the economy started in the mid-1980s with the privatization of parastatal organizations, the deregulation and the opening up of trade and banking, foreign exchange deregulation, and tax reform (Benjaminsen et al., 2013). The neoliberal processes have a long term history of heavily impacting negatively on citizens and the environment. The economy of Tanzania is mostly from wildlife tourism and game hunting. The neoliberal acts in these context comes to play when the land sustaining the wildlife is situated among villages where citizens live. Impacts of the conservation of the land arises for these villagers and the environment. In this essay we will discuss how the neoliberal practices in Tanzania over

The performance of activities that direct the flow of goods and services from companies to the customers has taken different turn in recent times. This is particularly been occasioned by the wake of globalization which has facilitated a lot of competition among sellers and service providers. The government of Kenya through the vision 2030 blueprint and other policy documents is encouraging investment in the energy sector and especially renewable energy sources. This is achieved through feed-in tariff, net metering, zero rating taxes on renewable production and import duty waiver on renewable energy equipment. This has seen the entry of new Energy producers into the market competing for the same customers and thus a need for the businesses to find ways of appealing to the clients.