Why Civil Society must be involved in shift to renewable energy

Kenya has been a vibrant breeding ground for civil societies for a long time now. This is partly due to the power of democracy that we wield so freely in our fists every time we rise to state, we are fed up with the status quo. While the mention of civil societies in some quarters may infer or give the idea of an upcoming strike or demonstration, there is more than meets the eye when it comes to the roles they play in policy making, more specifically climate policies.

Therefore as Kenya seeks to achieve the targets set in Paris, COP21, we should recognise the roles of the civil society as agenda setters, advocates, collectors and distributors of information as well as watchdogs to the various policies discussed. If climate policies are to be realised, the civil society must be involved every step of the way.

The Green Belt movement which was led by the Late Professor Wangari Maathai is one organisation that immediately comes to mind in terms of environmental conservation in Kenya. Their persistent fight for conservation of forests not only put Kenya on the map but has helped in the preservation of one of the major forests in Kenya. The civil society is therefore a vessel that can be used to physically push for given climate policies and oversee the implementation on the ground.

This however is not the only civil society that is ready to fight tooth and nail to see that there is a complete shift from fossil fuels to renewable sources of energy. A conference was recently held by the International Youth Council in collaboration with Corporate Accountability International dubbed Kick Big Polluters Out. Their main concern and point of discussion was the capture of climate policies by oil corporations. It is in this same meeting where a detailed report of oil corporations that bankrolled COP21 conference was unveiled (Fuelling the Fire)

During the conference there was however a consensus on the fact that it is about time civil society groups and NGO’s move their discussions from conference rooms to the actual communities where climate change hits the most. This will make their whole activity more practical aside from making sure that everything they discuss actually happens.

This is a clear indication that there is an active interest group that is pushing for the realisation of SDG Goal No.13 which is a call to take urgent action to combat climate change and its impacts. The main item around which goal 13 revolves around is renewable energy.

Civil society groups like these are instrumental if Kenya is to achieve this goal which will be concurrent with Vision 2030. Their expertise in information collection, in depth analysis and distribution will shorten the amount of time Kenya has to achieve this goal.