Nairobi — The climate action debate took center stage as thousands of scouts gathered in Nyeri County over the weekend to commemorate the Scouts Movement's Founder, Baden Powell.

Speakers highlighted the pivotal role of the over 2.5 million registered members of the scouting movement, a majority of whom are children, in the climate change agenda, aiming to plant up to 15 billion trees by 2032.

Amason Kingi, the Senate Speaker and World Scout Parliamentary Union Patron, urged scouts to lead climate change mitigations through community mobilizations, citing the severe impact of climate change on Africa, such as prolonged droughts.

The theme for this year's celebrations is environmental sustainability through innovative climate change solutions, with plans to plant at least two million trees nationwide by year-end.

To champion the movement's greening agenda, the Scouts Movement appointed Alice Wanjiru, a 10-year-old climate activist, as its ambassador. Wanjiru, having planted over 5000 trees in the last four years, emphasized the importance of involving children in climate action, given their heightened vulnerability to climate change effects.

Wanjiru challenged the government to adopt a child-centered approach in its climate action plan, warning of the dire consequences if the current generation fails to address climate change promptly.

Chief Scout and Former Cabinet Minister Prof Jacob Kaimenyi stressed the need to empower the younger generation to sensitize people on behaviors causing climate change, particularly pollution. Kaimenyi proposed registering more scouts to achieve a target of four million members, each planting four trees monthly for eight years, potentially resulting in the planting of about 1.5 billion trees by 2032.

In advocating for environmental conservation, Dagoreti South MP criticized the Nairobi River Commission for its underperformance despite receiving funds from parliament and the treasury, calling for more proactive measures to clean up the Nairobi River.