By VICTOR KIPROP

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The United Nations is confident that the withdrawal of the US from the Paris Climate Agreement will not impede the implementation of the resolutions on the global deal.

According to the president of the UN Environment Assembly Dr Edgar Gutiérrez, the fight against global warming is on course.

“The US is still with us. We have the support of businesses, estates cities and states including Texas and California, which recently signed up to the agreement.”

In August, the US officially notified the UN that it was withdrawing from the Paris Agreement, arguing that the deal could damage its economy.

However, businesses, cities and individuals in the US have vowed to continue to support climate action to meet the Paris Agreement.

Last Tuesday, at least 36 US cities signed the Chicago Climate Charter, which calls for mayors to achieve a per cent reduction in greenhouse gas emissions that is equal to or more than outlined in the Paris agreement.

“The withdrawal of the US means much less than people think,” said Erik Solheim, the executive director of the United Nations Environment Programme.

“In all the other main nations and regions, including China, India, Europe and Africa, the private sector, led by big companies including Apple, Microsoft, and Amazon, are all committed to act on climate.”

Climate change threat

Through the Paris climate agreement, which was adopted in 2015, members of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCC) agreed to respond to the global climate change threat by keeping the global temperature rise well below two degrees Celsius by the end of the century.

We have made enormous progress since the signing of the agreement but the most important one is that the price of solar energy has fallen to a level where it can compete with other sources, leading to a huge shift to renewable energy,” Mr Solheim said.

However, to intensify the fight against global warming and achieve the 2030 Sustainable Development Goals on energy, the UN said, countries have to develop and implement  individual strategies that align with the common UN goals on reducing pollution.

“At the end of the day, it is up to us individual countries to rapidly reduce pollution independently. I’m calling on ministers to work with the people, stakeholders and communities and apply science to reduce the uncertainties that we still face,” Dr Gutiérrez said.

Total ban

Meanwhile, with its total ban on the use, manufacture and sale of single use plastic bags in August this year, Kenyan joins other East African states who have taken major steps towards reducing pollution, before and after the Paris Agreement.

Ethiopia is among the few countries that have put in place clear climate change resilience initiatives with the implementation of the Climate-Resilient Green Economy (CRGE) 2011.

According to Minister for the Environment Gemedo Dale, the content of their strategy is in line with the Paris agreement.

Earlier this month, Rwanda launched a green growth week, to create awareness on green growth and climate resilience and to ensure that citizens are aware of their responsibilities in the strategy, in addition to its ban on plastics.

“Even before the Paris agreement, we had developed a green growth and climate resilience strategy aimed at making Rwanda a low carbon country by 2050,” Fatina Mukarubibi, Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Environment, Rwanda told The EastAfrican.

In Uganda, the government is determined to cut emissions from land use by 22 per cent by 2030, as well as improve forest cover by 2020, by revamping the country’s environment act to include stiffer penalties for offenders.

“Burning of waste openly and discharge of industrial waste into lakes remain the biggest source of pollution in Uganda. We believe that with the new Bill, is going to at least make things better,” Uganda’s Minister of State for Environment Dr Kitutu Mary Goretti said.