Uhuru at One Planet Summit, says Kenya to boost forest cover

President Uhuru Kenyatta has said Kenya will have reached an estimate of 10 percent forest cover as effort to curb the recent climatic changes and the numerous cases of de-forestation.

Speaking during the 3^rd One Planet Summit at the UN headquarters in Gigiri, the President said his administration has set clear targets through the National Green Growth Strategy in order to achieve global sustainable development goals.

“Today we are here to make pledges, today we are here to make commitments, and on behalf of Kenya, our government and our people, I am pledging by 2022, we want to reach a minimum of 10 percent forest cover in our country as a way of ensuring we play our part in combating climate change,” he said.

He lauded world leaders and other partners for choosing to come together in Nairobi and deliberate on solutions towards health and sustainability of forests.

President Kenyatta reiterated that Kenya has recognised that preservation and conservation of forest resources is the safe and best way for the survival of humanity and life as we know it.

“Let us all pull together as nations of One Planet with a common sense of purpose….We have further enacted a Public Private Partnership legislation that supports engagement of the private sector in public programmes. These partnerships between communities and the private sector will enhance the sustainable management of our forests,” he added.

President Kenyatta also emphasised on the need to secure the water bodies which in turn preserve marine life as part of efforts to reach biodiversity and adaptation.

The President said Kenya is a proponent of Green energy and efforts to realise this are already in place.

On his part, French Prime Minister Emmanuel Macron, who is in Kenya for a two-day visit, said the best response to climate change is not words but actions.

According to him, working together towards ensuring forests are preserved, will make interventions sustainable.

“We need to put biodiversity at the heart of each of our actions.We make new commitments and invent a new model together. Thank you for this One Planet Summit in Africa,” he said on Thursday.

The summit, which brought together over 4,000 delegates to Nairobi, focuses on ensuring the preservation and sustainability of forests.

It is the third of its kind to be held in the world after previous meetings in Paris and New York.

The World Bank has also pledged to fund the restoration of 60 million hectares of degraded lands to green forests in Africa.