A 15-year-old on Monday, November 1, accompanied Kenyan delegation, led by President Uhuru Kenyatta and various Cabinet Secretaries, for the high profile United Nations (UN) event at Glasgow, United Kingdom.
Rahmina Paulette, booked her slot at the conference for her role in rallying the country and world leaders in advancing action against climate change.
Hailed as a teen environment champion, Paulette has been constantly advocating for eco friendly ways to reduce various types of pollution.
She is now expected to participate at the event which began on Sunday, October 31 and will run till Friday, November 12.
Born and raised in Kisumu, the teenager's spirit for advocacy and environmental sprung from witnessing how pollution and water hyacinth caused harm to Lake Victoria.
"It bothered me to see the weed block fishermen and leisure boat riders affecting so many people who depended on the activities to earn a living," she stated at a past media interview.
The drive for change delved her to come up with eco-friendly ways of getting rid of the weed. The innovative young lad was able to remove water hyacinth from the lake and come up with eco-friendly products such as furniture, paper, cards, folders, document holders, carrying bags, carton boxes and other products.
The Form Two student at Kisumu Senior Academy prides herself in organising climate change protests at her county as well as helping fishermen remove plastic waste from the Lake.
Her role became more profound during the Covid-19 pandemic period as she launched an organisation targeting the youth.
"I realised that most children were now engaging in risky behaviour, therefore, I launched Kisumu Environmental Champions to rally them behind a worthy cause," she detailed.
The organisation deals with sensitizing the public on environmental matters, ecofriendly clean ups, kitchen garden ventures, waste segregation as well as tree planting measures.
The activities run during the weekends, primarily on Saturdays, and Paulette, through the help of her mother, Miriam Oyugi, will be looking to scale up the activities as she urges Kenyans to incorporate eco friendly ways in their day-to-day lives.
The Conference of Parties (COP) is a UN Conference for climate change which brings together world leaders to discuss mitigation efforts to reduce damage and impact on the environment.
