{"id":13238,"date":"2021-03-09T07:23:06","date_gmt":"2021-03-09T07:23:06","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/africa\/?p=13238"},"modified":"2021-12-01T12:40:37","modified_gmt":"2021-12-01T12:40:37","slug":"op-ed-slam-the-kenya-us-plastic-proposal-focus-on-the-climate-crisis","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.greenpeace.org\/africa\/en\/blogs\/13238\/op-ed-slam-the-kenya-us-plastic-proposal-focus-on-the-climate-crisis\/","title":{"rendered":"Op-Ed | Slam the Kenya-US Plastic Proposal, Focus on the Climate Crisis"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\"Fairey\u2019s
Greenpeace US activists deploy a banner with a new art collaboration by graphic artist Shepard Fairey and Greenpeace USA pushing President Joe Biden to end the era of fossil fuel racism and deliver on the promise of a Green New Deal. \nThe new piece Fairey designed for Greenpeace and the climate movement depicts two possible futures \u2014 one in which Joe Biden delivers on his promises to prioritize climate and environmental justice, and one in which fossil fuel corporations escape accountability for their decades of pollution and deceit.<\/figcaption>
\u00a9 Tim Aubry \/ Greenpeace<\/div><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n

Earlier this week, the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) acknowledged Kenya\u2019s \u201cstewardship\u201d in the continental fight against plastic pollution; but, if the past fews months are anything to go by, its notoriously stringent anti-plastic laws may not have as firm a grip when it comes to corporate interference in domestic policy. <\/p>\n\n

Only a few months have passed since the Kenyan government\u2019s free trade agreement (FTA) negotiations with the United States (US) came under international scrutiny. In August, the Greenpeace investigative journalism unit Unearthed<\/em> <\/a>discovered that the American Chemistry Council (ACC) lobbied the US State Representative to demand an immediate suspension of its single-use plastic bans. Kenya\u2019s ban on the use, manufacture and importation of single-use plastic carrier bags came into effect in 2017; it has since banned all single-use plastic from its national parks.  The ACC wanted to reverse Kenya\u2019s progress and make it a gateway to Africa for plastic trade \u2013 then sell us recycling as a \u201cfalse solution\u201d<\/a> to the environmental catastrophe it would later cause. <\/p>\n\n

The debacle has barely blown over and yet, in the lead up to the UN summit being held in Nairobi, UNEP<\/a> has boldly named Kenya as an emerging leader in the fight against plastic pollution and among the first countries in Africa to sign the Clean Seas initiative<\/a>. <\/p>\n\n

While it is encouraging that Kenya’s environmental stewardship has been acknowledged worldwide, since both officials and ordinary citizens have fought against the menace that single-use plastic has become in Africa, the threats to the country’s efforts remain real. Contraband plastic is already flooding the nation and \u201cplastic islands<\/a>\u201d have tainted the landscape of its beloved World Heritage site, Lamu.   <\/p>\n\n

Kenya has invested heavily in both policy regulations and law enforcement to win the fight against plastic pollution. National Environment Management Authority of Kenya recently launched a new wave of surveillance <\/a>to heighten checks on the outlawed plastic bags across the country – a response to the aforementioned wave of contraband plastic. There has never been a more important time for its government to be firm and to stay true to its efforts against the plastic pollution crisis, which is exacerbating climate emergencies.<\/p>\n\n

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A climate striker protesting against plastic waste to mark Global Climate Change Day at Uhuru Park in Nairobi last year when the news of the ACC’s proposal first broke internationally. <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n

The onus however, is on both countries, not just Kenya. Each has a responsibility to make trade right for the people and the planet, and not just free for corporations. The announcement that the negotiations about the free trade agreement are to continue shows that the deal is not completely off the table as it should be. <\/p>\n\n

The Biden administration needs to relook at the proposed FTA with Kenya by revisiting the rationale of engaging. The proposed FTA with Kenya is asymmetrical in nature and has the potential of undermining regional integration in East Africa due to the fact that Kenya is in a customs territory with the rest of the EAC partner states. Biden\u2019s government should pay attention to the integration journey that the African countries have entered into under the spectrum of the African Continental Free Trade Area (ACFTA). <\/p>\n\n

Both parties must assess the implications of this FTA as it relates to the environment and ensure that the existing environmental laws that are in force are adhered to. Kenya has a strong legislation that bans the importation of single use plastics, so the FTA must be cognisant to this progress that is also replicated in 34 other African countries<\/a>. <\/p>\n\n

UPDATE || The @UNEP<\/a> praised Kenya for leading the way in Africa’s ambition to #BreakFreeFromPlastic<\/a>
But, its #PlasticBan<\/a> is still under threat for as long as the ACC’s FTA proposal is not officially slammed! Read More: https:\/\/t.co\/J8mt384mAx<\/a> pic.twitter.com\/OEB4TYxmiS<\/a><\/p>\u2014 Greenpeace Africa (@Greenpeaceafric) February 26, 2021<\/a><\/blockquote>