The UN Climate Change Summit in Copenhagen, Denmark that kicked off yesterday is a significant occasion in environmental diplomacy as the international community commits itself to new strategies to combat global warming. The Summit comes at a time when severity of climate change is being felt in all corners of the world.

Global warming is already affecting biodiversity, water resources, rain-fed agriculture, food security, public health and coastal systems, among others. Effects of climate change can be seen in the form of unpredictable weather conditions such as prolonged droughts and disastrous floods. Moreover, encroachment of deserts is a reality in African several countries.

Why is the world being overwhelmed by the ravages of climate change yet environmental agenda has been at centre stage in world affairs since early 1970s? Depletion of ozone layer was one of the global environmental problems raised in the United Nations Conference on Human Environment in Stockholm, Sweden in 1972. The Stockholm conference played a critical role in creating awareness worldwide. How has this awareness translated into action? Do our governments have environmental policies that could help in addressing environmental degradation?

The United Nations Conference on Environment and Development (UNCED) held in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil in June 1992 was another important environmental forum in which the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) and the Convention on Biological Diversity were formally signed after some years of negotiations.

The Rio Summit was a historic event as the international community noted that sustainable development could only be realised if environmental challenges are meaningfully tackled. Under UNFCCC, governments were to share information on greenhouse gas emissions, national policies and best practices; launch national strategies for addressing greenhouse gas emissions and adapting to expected impacts and cooperate in preparing for adaptations to the impacts of climate change.

Despite its ambitions to tackle the challenges of climate change, UNFCCC did not have mandatory limits on the greenhouse gas emission. It is for this reason that the international community came up with the Kyoto Protocol in 1997 to establish legally binding obligations for industrialised countries to cut down their greenhouse gases emissions that are mainly responsible for global warming.

Interestingly, United States signed Kyoto Protocol but failed to ratify it. The Obama administration is, therefore, expected to demonstrate in the Copenhagen Summit that the US is wholly committed to global environmental governance systems that should enhance the interests of the present and future generations. Similarly, other developed countries should walk the talk.

At regional levels, our governments in East Africa must put concerted efforts to address environmental problems that the region faces today. The 2004 Nobel Peace Prize Laureate, Prof. Wangari Maathai, has clearly demonstrated that environment can be conserved if there is a will and commitment.

Environmental problems such as deforestation, misuse of wetlands, overgrazing, pollution of water sources, soil erosion and the like, should be dealt with effectively if our countries are to achieve sustainable development. Let us do our part to mitigate the impact of environmental degradation whether in Mabira Forest, Mau complex, Ruwenzoris, Kilimanjaro, Mt. Kenya or Lake Victoria basin.

Mr Odhiambo is a researcher based in Nairobi, Kenya.