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More than 20 Chief Justices across Africa spent three days in Nairobi deliberating the role of the courts in combating climate change and its impacts.

Kenyan Judiciary hosted the Third Regional Symposium on Greening Judiciaries in Africa, which was officially opened by President William Ruto on Monday and closed by Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua yesterday.

The symposium was themed Strengthening the Role of Judiciaries in Addressing Climate Change in Africa. It was the third, the first two were held in South Africa and Mozambique, respectively.

The event was attended by judges, judicial officers, judicial educators, heads of judicial education institutions, practitioners and experts from the continent and beyond.

The CJs interrogated and provided policy and strategic leadership and guidance on how  judiciaries should promote climate change related adjudication in Africa focusing on collaboration between the three arms of government.

High-level dialogue also deliberated on key resource, infrastructural and technological constraints that could hinder effective and just adjudication of climate change claims.

Host Martha Koome, who was the host during opening of the symposium,  noted that it was part of regional judicial dialogue aimed at providing a platform for African judges and judicial officers to exchange ideas, learn from each other and acquire the requisite knowledge, skills and tools needed to effectively address the challenges facing our continent.

“Our people, our economies, and our natural resources are all at risk, as we grapple with the devastating consequences of rising temperatures, erratic weather patterns, and the loss of biodiversity,” she noted.

The CJ urged the African courts to play a decisive role in driving the adaptation, mitigation and resilience-building efforts required to combat climate change and to secure a sustainable future for African people.

“In Kenya, we have made significant strides in promoting transformative environmental constitutionalism, rooted in the environmental provisions of our 2010 Constitution,” she noted.