Entry Instance

HTTP 200 OK
Allow: GET, PUT, PATCH, DELETE, HEAD, OPTIONS
Content-Type: application/json
Vary: Accept

{
    "id": 1517363,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/1517363/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 283,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Sen. M. Kajwang’",
    "speaker_title": "",
    "speaker": {
        "id": 13162,
        "legal_name": "Moses Otieno Kajwang'",
        "slug": "moses-otieno-kajwang"
    },
    "content": "advances in the storage of power, the advances in inverters, and in solar panels. This country needs to have a clear and robust renewable energy strategy that puts solar at the center. One country that has just recently suffered the vagaries of climate change, must be Zambia. Their energy mix is heavily reliant on hydro, and then there was the El Nino and La Nina that hit Southern Africa recently. There was a devastating drought in Southern Africa. The rivers dried, and so the hydro-power stations could not generate electricity. That country was engulfed in darkness. In Kenya today, we generate our electricity from renewable sources like the geothermal towards Naivasha and we also have wind energy in Turkana, but we still have about 20 to 30 per cent reliance on hydro. If, indeed, the forecasts that we are being given are true, that we are going into a season of drought, then you can tell if we switch off 20 per cent of our power sources, there would be a huge impact on the economy. So, this Parliamentarians for Climate Change initiative on green investment zones aims to encourage the government to establish dedicated zones for investors to put up serious investments in renewable energy. It could be green hydrogen, solar, wind, or any other form of renewable energy. Where parliamentarians come in is in ensuring that there is proper legislation, proper regulation and proper fiscal incentives because this is the province of parliament. A study that was conducted in India on the factors that affected the implementation and adoption of renewable energy put regulation and legislation among the top three factors. The other one was off-tech because once you have invested, you find regulatory bodies that are not willing to take it up. Mr. Temporary Speaker, Sir, we were doing all these initiatives around green investment because we have cut down our forests, we have cut down our trees, and we have gotten to a point where we are not able to absorb the carbon that comes out of industrial activity. Finally, the issue of carbon credits has always come up. When we plant a lot of trees, we can go to the market and claim carbon credits and get an additional source of income. However, under the Paris Agreement, there is Article 6 that talks about internationally transferred mitigation outcomes. Some countries are taking advantage of that Article to come to Africa to buy forests to take up parks, and we have seen it. There is a company from the United Arab Emirates that so far has signed up deals in Africa to take up African forests. They say the size is equivalent to the entire United Kingdom so that they can continue mining fossil fuel, drilling oil in the Arabian Peninsula, and then they net off with the oxygen that is emitted from African forests. It is a matter that those of us who go for the conference of parties need to talk about robustly because you cannot continue polluting and then you come to Africa and purport that you have bought or you own a forest and say that the carbon capture by that"
}