Name: Antony Fredrick Ogolla
Age: 23
Function: Undergraduate student of Environment and Development
Country of origin: Kenya
Church of origin: The Anglican Church of Kenya
I am so much humbled being the only Kenyan to have been given this great opportunity by the World Council of Churches and the Lutheran World Federation to participate in this noble cause and to meet other youths from all over the world in Durban, South Africa.
What is really important for my Life:
What could be more important than the future of the Earth? as a young person and as a major stakeholder, I understand that we have the most at stake and this is why we should step up and stand up for the kind of future we want.
I have always been interested in serving humanity and conserving the environment and with my background in Environmental Sciences and majoring in environment and development, it is important that we safeguard the future generation environment by all means promoting inter and intra-generational equity. It is also important that as many people as possible know the importance of treating the earth with respect and knowing that the purpose for which God created man was to take good care of His creation ( Environment ).
What my Wishes for the negotiations on Climate Change in Durban are:
Climate change poses a massive threat to development.The poorest populations living in poor countries face the concentrated challenge of tackling the worst of the impacts with the least capacity to do so.
This far the negotiations have not yielded any acceptable results since it started way back but in the mean time the African people are suffering the fatal impacts of climate change.
In this regard I wish that the negotiations in Durban set clear short and long term targets for carbon emissions reduction that keep average temperature increases well below 1.5degrees centigrade and to support solutions contributing to healing the earth.
My second wish is that the negotiations should ensure that there is adequate finance for adaptation in Africa. The finance should come from the countries that have contributed to pollution in recognition of their ecological debt.
The negotiations should also ensure that there is a commitment to ambitious,fair and legally binding agreement and to a second commitment period for the Kyoto Protocol, to ensure that the coming generation survives.
What I would like to do so that my church/ country becomes more environmentally just:
I am part of a strong youth network leading a campaign on climate justice in Kenya and beyond recognizing that young people have a very important role to play in demanding action and being part of positive change. I know that we are the future and climate change is our future and while I have an impact through my individual choice, there is a need to coordinate everyone’s actions to ensure that all are doing their fair share, and I think this is where policy will come into play. It is me to influence the policy as a citizen and future leader of my country.
I hope to build a strong international network with other youths and groups working on climate change so that we can share on the best practices that we can develop in our individual countries that will promote environmental justice. I believe that with a bigger and stronger network and voice we can be the change that we want to see in the world. I would also like to share the knowledge and experiences that I will have gotten from the Eco-Justice training in Durban with as many youths, students, NGOs and churches as possible in my country hoping that from this we will achieve a positive change in our environment and the way people view it.
I would also like to work on projects that promote sustainable development and engaging as many youths as possible in the same.
