Nairobi — Chief Justices attending the 3rd Regional Symposium on Greening Judiciaries in Africa have called for harmonized efforts to tackle climate change in a bid to accelerate the delivery of climate justice.
Speaking during panel discussions a the conference convened under the auspices of Africa Judicial Education Network on Environmental Law (AJENEL), Heads of Delegations singled out harmonized legal texts and knowledge sharing among priorities.
In comments during a session moderated by Kenya's Supreme Court Justice William Ouko on Monday, Uganda's Chief Justice Alfonse Owiny-Dollo the impact of environment degradation is often transnational hence the need for coordinated efforts.
"The rains Gulu enjoys in Uganda are as a result of evaporation in South Sudan and the Congo basin. Adverse climate in these countries would impact Uganda directly," he said.
Justice Owiny-Dollo cited the Jonglei Canal, a project intended to divert water from South Sudan's Sudd wetlands to Sudan and Egypt for agricultural use, as a classical example of the impact activities in the neighboring countries would impact Uganda.
"If Jonglei Canal were to materialize, it would certainly affect the high rainfall in Gulu," he told the panel.
Sub-national level climate litigation
Chief Justice Bheki Maphalala of Eswatini called for the alignment of climate laws to customs to take advantage of uncodified customary laws in certain jurisdictions.
Justice Maphalala observed that the management of climate issues at the lowest possible sub-national level where violations occur would give fresh impetus to protection of environmental rights.
"We need to tap into customary law to help scale up the involvement of populations especially in rural settings," he said.
Chief Justice Khamis Ramadhan Abdalla of Tanzania's semi-autonomous region of Zanzibar called for sustained efforts to entrench environmental rights citing increased displacement of persons due to diminishing resources including food, water and pasture.
Justice Abdalla said Zanzibar would consider introducing specialized environment courts as is the case in Kenya to encourage climate litigation.
"We're learning valuable lessons from Kenya's experience," he said noting that specialized courts would help amplify public awareness and bring more matter to the judicial system for determination.
Jurisprudence in environmental law
Speakers at the panel also deliberated on efforts to enrich jurisprudence in environmental law, an issue which featured in Chief Justice Martha Koome's remarks at the opening of the symposium on Monday.
Koome, who is the host of the three-day symposium set to conclude on Wednesday, stressed that regional dialogue is key to building on efforts to effectively respond to unique aspirations of the continent, and tackle emerging threats.
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"We view hosting regional judiciaries dialogues as a means of fostering the development of an African jurisprudence that is responsive to the unique concerns and aspirations of our continent," the CJ told delegates.
She termed the conference as a crucial platform in promoting continuous knowledge building.
"It is our vision to create a robust and dynamic platform for knowledge exchange, capacity building, and collaboration among African judiciaries, enabling us to better understand, interpret, and apply the law to promote social development and transformation in our respective jurisdictions."
