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Five farmers including a retired judge have moved to the Environment and Land’s court seeking to declare climate change in Kenya a National Disaster.

Julie Atieno Ogolla, retired judge John Anyara Emukule, Carolyne Kanai Mutemi, Denzel Munge Sembele and Naomi Moraa Nyariki also want the court to direct Environmental Cabinet Secretary to immediately stop deforestation and illegal logging of public forests.

The petitioners have sued the Environmental CS, the AG, the Chairperson National Climate Change Council, the Director General National Environmental Management Authority, the two Speakers of Parliament among others.

Existing challenges

They argue that the effects of climate change have made existing challenges with water security, food security and economic growth more difficult. “Harvests and agricultural production which account for about 33 per cent of Kenya’s total Gross Domestic Product are also at risk,” they say in court documents.

The farmers argue that the source of energy generated by the combustion of fossil fuels like coal, oil and natural gas releases carbon dioxide which is the most dangerous greenhouse gas.

“Science has proven that the carbon dioxide emitted remains in the atmosphere for hundreds of years or more,” they claim in court documents.

They further contend that carbon dioxide is partly absorbed from the atmosphere by forest ecosystems and oceans and the absorption capacity is consistently dropping at an alarming rate due to deforestation and other destructive human activities.

They claim that the climate is slow to respond to the emission of greenhouse gases, meaning that the full warming effect of the greenhouse gases being emitted today will not be felt for another thirty to forty years.