Episode Details

Nature is home. Nature is where you can think, rejuvenate, it constantly gives to you. There is nothing man made that can replace the benefits of nature. Edna Odhiambo, is a Climate Change Lawyer based in Nairobi Kenya. Edna was speaking at the brilliant 8th Annual Sustainability Week conference, run by The Economist [PUT LINK IN]

As an undergraduate law student, she witnessed one of worst droughts in the Horn of East Africa, and she asked herself “what can the law do about this?” She realised then that one of the main keys to unlocking the solution is through a focus on policy and regulatory frameworks across different sectors.

In terms of sustainability, Kenya leads in Africa. For example, more than 85% of their electricity comes from clean energy sources like solar, wind, hydro and geo thermal.  But there are many challenges. For example, there are millions of Kenyans who lack access to clean energy sources, some are still using firewood and charcoal, dirty cooking fuels, which also increase respiratory illnesses and people are cutting down forests.  87% of Kenya is arid and semi-arid. If you consider then there is very little arable land and then couple this with climate change impacts, water scarcity we should be looking at opportunities to find solutions locally while we wait for access to innovative and affordable technology. Edna explains there are many basic low-cost solutions which can be done by local communities such as water dams. We need to make a difference as fast as we can.

One of the main themes of this podcast is how we need to bring in an integrated approach to transport, we need a multi-modal approach which seamlessly connects walking, bus and public transport, dock-less bikes, cycling lanes and walking pathways. Globally transport is the cause of 15% of emissions. The time has come to stop putting highways before people, building cities around transport, we should be putting people first. Traffic is a major cause of outdoor air pollution, which causes asthma in children, and there are even studies looking at there being an increased risk of dementia event early studies,

Edna makes a call for improving our overall quality of life. We are upright creatures, when we are away from our natural set up, that’s when we get very anxious.  We also have to remember that in developing cities, more than half of the population walk, they are not using cars, they use public transport when they can afford it and half the time they cannot so they walk.  Increasing walking and cycling structure is important.  We need to good walk paths cycling paths. If half of the population walks, then let’s aim to make our cities equitable to ensure we are catering for our people.

Biophilia, as well as our connection with animals, birds, nature and trees, this symbiosis also extends to people, our interconnection with each other. It is the love of living entities, life..

For Edna her focus on civic environmental improvements includes walking and eco-friendly modes of transport. This closer connection to other people gets you speaking with others, community, maybe even starting friendships. Also consider the sound pollution, the auditory impact traffic noise has on us, it raises our stress levels.

 Challenges are always there, the good thing is that when you know them then you can address the