THE RIGHT TO A CLEAN AND HEALTHY ENVIRONMENT: THE ENVIRONMENT, THE PEOPLE OF KENYA AND THE CONSTITUTION INTRODUCTION The survival and social economic well-being of Kenyans is ultimately intertwined with the environment. While the nature of the environment is a primary determinant of livelihood patterns, it is also conclusive that livelihood patterns in turn often shape and reshapes the environment. A working definition in this respect illustrates that in fact natural resources are crucial for survival and livelihood. It is submitted thus, ‘[the environment is] the physical and cultural spaces in which the human species live, reproduce and die. It consists of the water, the atmosphere, land and all living and non-living things that inhabit these spaces. It goes without saying, therefore, that humankind cannot survive without the environment.’ One of the earliest and most satisfying efforts in print on natural resources, the environment and its intrinsic value on the livelihood patterns is found in Jomo Kenyatta’s book Facing Mount Kenya. Although the discussion ranges widely, Kenyatta specially observes that, ‘The Gikuyu considered the earth as the ‘mother’ of the tribe, for the reason that the mother bears …show more content…
It entrenches a number of environmental rights that are summed up under the overarching right to a clean and healthy environment. Conventionally, environmental rights seek to guarantee the right to a quality environment. However, Kenya's 2010 constitution embodies ‘a slightly more elaboration’ on the same aspect; remarkably providing that, ‘Every person has the right to a clean and healthy environment, which includes the right to have the environment protected for the benefit of present and future generations…’ the phrase ‘clean and healthy’ environment are herein regarded to as ‘qualifying terms’ to environmental
Solis, Hilda. “Environmental Justice: An Unalienable Right for All.” Human Rights 30 (2003): 5-6. JSTOR. Web. 13 February 2014.
Located in the Great Lakes area of East Africa, Kenya is home to an estimated 47 million. The country, covering over 223,000 square miles is bordered by Ethiopia and Sudan to the north, Uganda to the west, Tanzania to the south, and Somalia to the east. The areas around the coast of the Indian Ocean present a tropical climate, while the highlands are more temperate. There is no specific cultural normality with the nation because of such diverse ethnic backgrounds. As much of Kenya is riddled with poverty, her economy is based on labor-intensive industries, such as mining, manufacturing, mining, forestry, and agriculture. The
Soledad, A. (2012). UNEP: World Congress on Justice, Governance and Law for Environmental Sustainability. Environmental Policy and Law, 42(4/5), 204-205. Retrieved from http://search.proquest.com.proxy1.ncu.edu/docview/1239086063/fulltextPDF/938578CF70664516PQ/3?accountid=28180
Environmental justice is usually refers to the belief everyone, regardless of their ethnicity or socioeconomic class, should equally share the benefits of environmental luxuries as well as the burdens of environmental health hazards. Environmental Justice is demonstrated using examples of environmental injustice, such as unfair land use practices, environmental regulation being enforced in some areas only, unfair location of harmful industrial facilities and the disposal of toxic waste on communities where most of its population are minorities. Many environmentalist have addressed the issue, for instance the essay “From Carrying Capacity to Footprint, & Back Again,” by Michael Cain reveals that ecological footprint show that people appear to be using resources more rapidly than they can be regenerated and its affecting mainly developing countries.
In his book “Cattle Brings Us to Our Enemies”, McCabe does a 16-year stint in East Africa, specifically in Northern Kenya, doing research on the Turkana. He does this through STEP, the South Turkana Ecosystem Project. In “Cattle Bring Us to Our Enemies”, McCabe follows four families through his years in Kenya and notes how they live in a very demanding environment. He uses ecological data to analyze how and why the Turkana people make decisions about their everyday life. McCabe focuses on four main areas of study: how the Turkana survive and adapt to a stressful environment by nomadic pastoralism, how the techniques used to extract resources and manage livestock modify the environment, the effects of the environmental and cultural practices have on
Because of human and nonhuman connections to specific places including knowledge, experience and community, using a sense of place and permanence as a green transnational multilateral initiative could be a successful step towards green democracy and ecological citizenship. Robyn Eckersley offers the suggestion of a constitutionally entrenched principle that would enhance ecological and social responsibility: the precautionary principle. I suggest connecting localized, place-specific boundaries with the principle. This addition is meant to aid in fostering ecological citizenship, expanding the moral community, and creating a responsible society. This addition would also be meant to unite a transnational issue that all nations could agree upon. This would create a binding multilateral principle that would be thoroughly accepting of specific ecological needs and characteristics of specific places.
...exico Communities: The Struggle for Environmental Justice." Human Rights 30.4 (2003): 23-25. Academic Search Premier. Web. 22 Apr. 2014.
At the beginning of the semester, I thought that environmental justice was justice for the environment, which is true to a point, but I now know that it is justice for the people. Only when there is a people that have been wronged, usually using the environment as the the method of delivery, does it become an environmental justice case. Environmental justice ensures that all people, regardless of income level or race, have a say in the development and enforcement of environmental laws. It acts on the philosophy that anyone living on and in the land should have a say on how it is treated and used. Sometimes when developing legislature, the populations in mind are not all affected equally, and if said population
1990 Becoming Kenyans: Socio-economic transformation of the pastoral Maasai (Drylands research series), Acts Press, pp. 193-201
This means freedom from pollution, and dumping sites, access to clean water, and air quality, and freedom from environmental hazards, such as chemical toxins, industrial pollution, solid waste disposal and noise. Studies have shown that the social distribution of pollution suggest that poor households with low income, minorities, and poor African Americans in the United States are most affected by the environmental quality issues, (1) and “concerns about the environmental inequality led to the creation of the Environmental Protection Agency for Environmental Justice in 1992.” (1) The EPA is responsible for distributing and regulating the risks. (2) Since environmental Justice concerns where people work, live and play, it is also important for these people to be included in the decision making process.
Africa provides one of the most highly destructive environmental issues throughout the whole world. In fact, Sub-Saharan Africa has been known to have major impacts with the largest amounts of deforestation, the loss of forests from cutting down too many trees and not re-planting them back. According to the World Resource Institute, Washington DC stated, “More than 80 percent of the earth's natural forests have already been destroyed at a rate of about 40 million hectares per year. Up to 90 percent of West Africa's coastal rain forests have disappeared since 1900. Loss of habitats is among the obvious consequences of deforestation` (seventy percent of the Earth's biodiversity is present in forests). If deforestation continues without any solution, there will be no rain forest left in Africa by the year 2099” (Uneke). Again, the United Nation’s says, "Africa is losing more than 4 million hectares (9.9 million acres) of forest every year -- twice the world's average deforestation rate"(Doyle). Therefore, deforestation can be understood as a completely ecological process in which the human factor is taken into account only as a basic addition, not as a powerful one constantly affecting the environment. In fact, the socially and culturally behavioral practices, such as those involved in traditional resource utilization and human reproduction, and their ecological connections present another approach to the environmental problem in Africa. In the history of deforestation, the studies of pollen sedimentation in bog lake bottom layers shows that regional deforestation replacement of forest vegetation by grasslands and bush lands occurred long ago in various parts of Africa, such as Ethiopia, Ug...
Everyone’s interpretation of environmental justice varies from their degree of belief and understanding of this serious subject. Though politics play a large role in the globalization of the world, it is those politics that have the power to accept or reject people’s notion. Though the characters in Edward Abbey’s book go about making their statement in an unacceptable way, to them, it is thought to make a difference in the amount of expansion they hope will not be made in the western states. As starhawk states, “we must have respect within to gain it” (30). With the respect of our selves, neighbors and our natural settings, there leaves no room for anything other than improvement.
When I think of the perfect place, I imagine a cascading waterfall, a vast forest, a stunning mountainside, or a warm sunset on the beach. I look up around me, mesmerized by the vastness of the natural world and breathe in the fresh air. Over the course of my life, I have come to respect the environment and the earth’s natural surroundings in ways that most others do not in the industrialized and technological era of today. I can appreciate the beauty of the Earth and of all the different landscapes and organisms that surround me. The way in which I value and treasure the environment has evolved just as I have. I see the environment as something to be preserved and admired, not destroyed or exploited. My relationship with the environment is
The most obvious reason that the environment has moral significance is that damage to it affects humans. Supporters of a completely human-centered ethic claim that we should be concerned for the environment only as far as our actions would have a negative effect on other people. Nature has no intrinsic value; it is not good and desirable apart from its interaction with human beings. Destruction and pollution of the environment cannot be wrong unless it results in harm to other humans. This view has its roots in Western tradition, which declares that “human beings are the only morally important members of this world” (Singer p.268).
Is it right that future generations, who have committed no crimes, be forced to live in a contaminated environment with freshwater depletion, polluted air, global warming and biodiversity reduction just because our present generation has caused the damage? Should our future children be ensured an ecologically healthy environment? I think they should. I strongly believe that protecting the environment is extremely important. We are all part of the environment; Earth is what we all share in common. It is our home and we are obliged to preserve it. As someone who is aware, who cares and who is concerned, I’d like to help you understand why protecting our environment is vital. I believe that protecting the environment is essential for healthy living, in creating a healthful environment for our future generation and last but not least, the Earth is our one and only home.