Discourse on sustainable development held at UoN

Abstract

chats with H.E. Amina Mohammed before the lecture Students, lecturers and the public engage in discussion on sustainable development, dubbed Rio +20: process and way forward. H.E Ambassador Amina Mohammed, Assistant Secretary- General of the United Nations and Deputy Executive Director of United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), engaged students, lecturers and the public in discourse on sustainable development, dubbed Rio +20: process and way forward. The lecture, which was organized by the University of Nairobi’s Centre for Advanced Studies in Environmental Law and Policy (CASELAP) touched on the Rio +20 Conference’s themes on a green economy in the context of sustainable development poverty eradication and the institutional framework for sustainable development. In brief welcoming remarks, Prof. Jacob Kaimenyi, Deputy Vice Chancellor, Academic Affairs, said that the lecture was an opportunity for students, staff and the public to engage in discussion on the changing world environment. He noted that, as an institution of higher learning, the University has engaged in practical activities geared towards environmental sustainability. In addition, the University established CASELAP as a teaching and research unit focusing on postgraduate level capacity building in environmental policy, environmental law and environmental diplomacy. This was a reaction, by the University, to the fact that despite the abundance of scientific and technical information on the dangers of environmental degradation, actual threats to the environment and depletion of natural resources has continued unabated. Such trends have threatened the threshold of sustainability of resource base and viability of sustainable development for the benefit of the public and private sectors. Also present during the discussion were H.E Ambassador George Owuor, Deputy Permanent Representative Kenya Permanent Mission to the UN, Prof. Enos Njeru, Principal, College of Humanities and Social Sciences (CHSS), Prof. Peter Kobonyo, Deputy Principal, CHSS and Prof. C.O. Okidi, Director, CASELAP, were among those is present during the lecture.