Ms Cecilia Kibe Muthoni:

I work for Kenya Climate Justice Women Champions, a network of 86 NGOs and community-based organisations that are women-led and women-dominated, which has a membership of slightly more than half a million.

I appreciate the opportunity to convey our sentiments to the committee. I feel quite humbled to have an opportunity to visit parliaments around the world. I shall commence by almost echoing what my colleagues have said about the impact of climate change on African countries. I do not need to reiterate their comments because they clearly stated what we are going through.

I emphasise that climate change not only is a threat to the achievement of sustainable development and poverty reduction but has the capacity to affect achievement of the millennium development goals. This is more evident in the African continent because the climate badly affects communities. While we take one step towards achieving the millennium development goals we go back two steps because of erosion by climate change. It is not something we are taking for granted; it is something that is making us lead our life, because we do not know what will happen next to Africa. We realise that mitigating climate change requires the sustainable participation of stakeholders - that is, the Government, civil society and the private sector. This is the only way everybody will have an opportunity to develop an initiative that will reduce the vulnerability of communities to climate change. If the three stakeholders do not work together, one may go ahead and take actions that are not favourable to either of the others. It is very important that we work together with our governments, the private sector and the farming communities in order that in advance of any planning we put the sentiments and the actions together.

Political goodwill is critical as far as the response to climate change is concerned because it strengthens and prepares the country for action towards mitigation of and opposition to climate change. We know very well from our country and, I think, also in Ireland that the politicians are the lawmakers. As the laws will lead to actions to mitigate climate change, it is important to ensure political goodwill. The politicians are elected to their positions by their communities and the communities also determine the next group of politicians. It is good that there is a payback through the introduction of policies that will reduce the vulnerabilities likely to be brought about by climate change. We Africans look upon Ireland as being one of the industrialised countries that is assisting in mitigating climate change. The action that Ireland takes will determine the life or survival of the African community. It is indicative of the responsibility Ireland has towards supporting the African continent. Therefore, we look at the actions that come from Europe, particularly those which have the human face and compassion to consider the sustainability of the continent in general. When I speak about climate change I think of the impact on women in the African continent. When we see what is happening in developed countries such as Ireland we feel as if our problems are already solved. We pray that Ireland does what we are expecting of it.

We are happy to learn that Ireland proposes to establish environmental regulations which will, in the long term, be applied in implementing the country's investment plan. When we are considering the investment plan in Ireland, those plans are not just meant for the Irish people; they will also have an impact on the African continent, directly or indirectly. I would like the legislation to have an impact on other countries in the developing world. This will only be realised if we are sensitive to the plight of countries such as Kenya and other areas of the African continent. It is clear that the private sector plays a significant role in tackling the impact of climate change by supporting green economic growth. This is what should inform the legislation as it makes provision for commitments to emissions reduction. However, it is more important to see a human face while making commitments to emissions reduction. Business is important, but we need to give it a human face, because the consumers of the products are in the African continent. If we do good business but do not have consumers then the products will be on the shelves and will not be consumed. It is important to consider the lives and welfare of the consumers who will consume the products of business.

The climate change Bill considers the risks and opportunities to provide for innovative and effective ways of addressing climate issuesin a manner that will result in a climate that is resilient and will secure the future of Ireland and of the African continent. That goes without saying. Ireland has tried to save the developing world while also saving itself. It may not affect us in the short term but in the long term it will spill over to the whole globe.

Historical gas emissions and projections for how they can change by 2030 will create renewed hope in Africa and the world. Based on what it is and where we are heading, it will determine the existence of the African world and inform us whether there is a commitment to mitigation, in which case it will give us hope that all will be well and that we shall continue to engage and live in these continents.

Politicians in Ireland have an obligation to leave a legacy. The best legacy they can leave is that there is food to save human life, because that will translate to generations. From Kenya we avail of the opportunity to appeal to the members of this committee to pass the legislation that will create a good legacy in order that we and our children's children can continue to enjoy what they have done.