President William Ruto drew parallels between his strategy to combat climate change and that King of Marathon Eliud Kipchoge employs to break track records in a hard-hitting opinion he penned for Project Syndicate.
In the opening paragraph of his piece published on Friday, May 19, the Head of State praised Kipchoge's stellar performance during the Berlin Marathon in which the marathoner clocked a time of 02:01:09, beating his previous record by an impressive 30 seconds.
To achieve the feat, Ruto observed that the marathoner's strategy was rooted in the science of running and enabled by his endearing commitment to his craft, including 120 miles of hard work every week.
According to the Head of State, the world needed to emulate Kipchoge in its fight against the rapidly deteriorating climate crisis.
"His success has made him a legend not only in Kenya but globally. It offers a useful lesson for everyone involved in the fight against climate change.
"Kipchoge’s winning strategy is rooted in the science of running (as well as 120 miles of hard work every week), and our own approach to the climate crisis must involve the same level of commitment and focus," stated the President.
"As temperatures keep rising and emissions soar, the planet, too, continues to break (dangerous) new records. But with determination and follow-through, we – together with institutional partners and other governments – can start to run faster to get ahead of the climate crisis," Ruto added.
Climate Crisis
The Head of State painted a grim picture of how the African Continent, despite making little carbon contributions to the atmosphere, bore the brunt of fast-rising temperatures that were already killing millions and living many others in dire need of basic needs.
For instance, Africa emits a paltry figure of less than 3 per cent carbon dioxide into the atmosphere and has over 600 million who are yet to hop onto the electricity grid.
In comparison, the continent has a population of 1.4 billion people as per the latest available data in 2023.
In the horn of East Africa, northwards of 40 million people were pushed to the brink of starvation after experiencing the worst drought in 40 years.
"We are currently a long way from limiting global warming to 1.5° Celsius or even 2°C, as envisaged by the Paris climate agreement.
"The climate crisis will not solve itself. On the contrary, we must ensure that global greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions peak before 2025 at the latest, and then fall by at least 43 per cent by 2030," added the President.
To rectify the situation, the Head of State implored his peers to accelerate the fight and make their intentions clear during the upcoming United Nations Climate Change Conference this November-December (COP28).
He hinted that Kenya was already on the right track to going green with 92 per cent of its power already drawn from clean sources and in line to produce 100 per cent of energy from clean sources by 2030.
"We need reforms to make our financial institutions and systems fit for purpose. And we need to take climate action seriously. In the words of Eliud Kipchoge, the key to success is to 'walk your talk'," he concluded.
