Seeking COP29 Solutions as Desert Lake Disrupts Harmonious Co-Existence With Indigenous Community

• by Joyce Chimbi (baku)
• Thursday, November 14, 2024
• Inter Press Service

Speaking on the sidelines of COP29, Charles Lokai Lonyamakan from the Youth Initiative for Land in Africa spoke about how, after living in harmony with Lake Turkana for millennia, communities around the lake are being pushed out as Lake Turkana continues to expand despite a series of failed rainy seasons. With no natural outlets, the lake is prone to change.

"But this is a recent phenomenon. Our ancestors lived peacefully with the environment and its natural resources for centuries. The situation is affecting fisheries and livelihoods and causing displacement. Displacements cause conflict as people move to areas already inhabited by others. Children are learning to peddle to access their classrooms and they are not safe as angry tides push water beyond its natural boundaries," he told IPS.

Surrounded by the harsh terrain of Turkana County, the lake is the world's biggest alkaline lake and a magnificent natural phenomenon. Due to its striking turquoise breathtaking color, it has been nicknamed "Jade Sea." But now Lokai says it is a tale of a long-time friend turned foe as rising lake waters submerge lowlands and flash floods burst out of dry river beds.

"I'm here on behalf of indigenous first-race communities. And it has been my anticipation. I participate in this event so that I get first-hand experience. Each year, COP has been held in various countries. And all along it has been promises, promises. As an indigenous community, I came here to witness a robust and decisive decision that will be made by global leaders on the issue of climate change," Lonyamakan said.

Stressing that today, climate change is not a distant threat but an eternal threat, especially for communities at the forefront of the climate chaos. In Turkana County, communities endure prolonged droughts and disasters caused by flooding. Climate is also destroying religious and cultural ways of life as extreme weather continues to destroy sacred shrines.

"Back home, children, women and the elderly are the most impacted by the effects of climate change. We have had locusts' invasions and waterborne diseases. The youth are the strength and lifeline of the elderly, providing critical social protection but now they are moving to urban areas in search of greener pastures. We are a pastoralist community but our children are increasingly learning that milk is bought from the shops and yet growing up, we milked the cows ourselves," he notes.

"All these are a bundle of challenges that we are facing as indigenous communities. It is my desire that our communities will get a good package of actions out of what has been proposed for COP29 rather than the previous COPs where promises have been at the forefront, followed by little to no action. We need action and a COP climate package deal designed in the interest of indigenous communities, and we need it now for the lives and livelihoods of the world's most venerable communities depends on it," Lonyamakan emphasized.

IPS UN Bureau Report

© Inter Press Service (2024) — All Rights ReservedOriginal source: Inter Press Service

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