By Nneka Nwogwugwu
Kenya is set to engage Uganda and Tanzania to fully enforce the ban on plastic carrier bags.
This even as the government announces that compliance is at 95 per cent.
NEMA director General, Mamo Mamo, told the Star on Monday that the authority has put in place various measures to curb the banned plastics nationally and regionally.
Mamo said the ban at the regional level, will be implemented with the help of the Director General’s Forum from three East Africa countries.
“We are reviving this forum so that we are able to address environmental issues. This is because environmental issues are transboundary,” Mamo said, adding that the forum being revived has been moribund for some time.
Mamo said the DGs from Kenya, Uganda and Tanzania will lead these efforts in their respective countries.
There after, we can expand to all Eastern African countries, he said.
Kenya’s hard stance against plastic pollution comes weeks before the resumption of the fifth session of the UN assembly.
The assembly will take place in person and online at the UN Environment Programme (UNEP) headquarters in Nairobi, Kenya, from February 28 to March 2.
UNEA-5 will be followed by a special session of the UN Environment Assembly to commemorate the 50th anniversary of UNEP, set to be held from March 3-4.
UNEA is the highest-level meeting on the state of the environment.
The assembly meets biennially to set priorities for global environmental policies.
