Heritage

Here is our chance to beat pollution

pollution

An aerial view of Nairobi's Central Business District. FILE PHOTO | NMG

In normal times, roads would be thick with traffic with oil prices at historic lows, but times are different and motorways and streets are clear.

Motorists have involuntarily kept off roads due to the coronavirus outbreak, and major global towns are experiencing cleaner air with sharp drops in exhaust emissions. Satellite images show toxic gases like nitrogen dioxide to be clearing in the atmosphere.

Nairobi’s vehicle fleet grows at almost 12 percent per year with two-thirds of all registered motor vehicles in Kenya operating in the city and its satellite towns. In the Nairobi Metropolitan Region for example, traffic congestion is estimated to have an economic cost of approximately $1billion (Sh100 billion) annually.

But it did not have to take a pandemic to push humanity into cleansing the air around. It is almost certain that once the virus blows over, and with historically low oil prices, it will be party time for motorists and emissions will shoot up once more.

We, therefore, urgently need a more sustainable approach with long-term impact to managing emissions from automobiles, including policies to encourage transition to cleaner electric and hybrid vehicles. At the same time, emission fees could be introduced in countries that are yet to, to deter any further carbon pollution in the post-pandemic era alongside tax incentives for cleaner technologies.

Adoption of a feebate (fee/rebate) system, for instance, could go a long way in this green drive. With a feebate in place, buyers of environmentally-friendly cars such as electric vehicles alongside newer brands that pollute less would be offered rebates. On the other hand, owners of cars with carbon emissions in excess of a set limit will be penalised. It’s a model that is working for several European nations like Denmark and Norway. At the same time non-motorised transport should be encouraged by dedicating safe infrastructure to cyclers and pedestrians and fashioning the practice as fun and cool.

Until the pandemic struck, climate change was the world’s primary concern, with nations racing to contain greenhouse gases, including exhaust fumes from tailpipes. For now, the climate debate appears to have moved to the backseat as efforts are collectively directed at fighting the deadly virus – a more immediate concern.

However, even with the current break in emissions from grounded vehicles and aircraft, climate change is here with us and its far-reaching effects are unfolding before us. The fact that our attention is now on the pandemic should not suddenly turn us blind to peculiar changes in our natural surroundings.

With streets and highways empty and deserted, major towns across the world have been reduced to ghost towns, with people comparing it to scenes from post-apocalyptic dystopian films.

If life goes back to normal with no change in behaviour after the coronavirus wave has retreated, the stress that the natural ecosystem has absorbed for long from human activity could unravel and sure unleash an apocalypse.

To avoid such a future, the race to curb emissions should not slow down even in the face of the pandemic. Now more than ever, we should move with speed to implement sustainable green strategies, including the transition to renewable energy sources and cleaner transport technologies.

Until recently, this transition was largely led by governments but now the private sector is taking the lead with innovative solutions.

New businesses have emerged, built around green technologies while some organisations are having their facilities powered by renewable sources like solar in efforts to reduce the society’s carbon footprint

More manufacturers and shopping malls in Kenya, for instance, are turning to solar power to run their daytime operations, installing panels on rooftops of their buildings and carports. But they should now go a mile further in the green drive to replace their fossil-fuelled fleet with electric vehicles.

Kenya’s Nationally Determined Contribution (NDC) has prioritised low carbon and efficient transportation systems, tasking the government with formulation of policy mechanisms to encourage more electric mobility in the streets. Transport sector is estimated to emit up to 40 percent of all particulate matter in urban areas. Last year, over 20 million cases of respiratory diseases were reported in Kenyan health facilities, a 63 per cent increase from recorded cases in 2012.

With regard to the feebate system, Kenya needs to come up with tangible actions as we have been in the inaction mode since 2015 when the intention to adopt a feebate green fund programme was first announced. It is only recently that Treasury officials have announced a revival of the green tax plan but without indicating specific timelines.

Every dark cloud has a silver lining, it’s often said and for us, this pandemic could offer a chance to reset our relations with Mother Nature and recalibrate our collective behaviour.