Rwanda marks international climate action day

KIGALI - The Rwanda Environment Management Authority (REMA) and members of ASSETAMORWA, Saturday joined the rest of the world in planting trees as part of a global action to reduce the amount of carbon in the atmosphere to 350 parts per million, if the consequences of climate change are to be reversed. The activity took place in Kabeza, a city suburb. Speaking during the tree planting, the Minister of State in charge of Environment, Water and Mines in the Ministry of Natural Resources, Vincent Karega, called upon the participants, to realize and comprehend the gravity of the biting climatic catastrophe by responding with mitigation measures such as planting trees. He further urged Rwandans to continue partnering with the rest of the world, especially African communities, in mitigating the consequences of climate change, especially global warming. “160 countries are marking this day all over the world; this should be the start of a holistic campaign to mitigate climate change consequences that are ravaging our communities, it should start with the youth and the civil society,” he said. The tree planting exercise attracted many motorists from within Kigali City. They expressed enthusiasm in contributing to a safe climate. “Many of us didn’t know how bad the climate has worsened due to human activity, including the emissions from our motorcycles, but now we are going to be conscious on the oils and fuels we use,” remarked Jack Sibomana, a motorcycle taxi operator from Kabeza During the previous UN summit on Climate change, President Paul Kagame pointed out that while developed nations are almost entirely responsible for the climate dangers, the greatest impact faces Africa which has fewer resources to cope with the challenge. According to a statement from MINIRENA, Rwanda just like other African countries, has already been hit by the impacts of climate change across various sectors. The global actions to combat impacts of climate change come at a time when it’s less than two months to the UN Climate change convention, slated to take place in Copenhagen, Denmark, where world nations will participate in the signing of a new climate change treaty. So far, 89 countries have already endorsed the 350 target, including the president of the intergovernmental panel on climate change. Ends