President Uhuru Kenyatta will on Thursday co-chair an international environment meeting in Stockholm, Sweden.
President Kenyatta will co-chair the two-day meeting dubbed ‘Stockholm+50’ with the host, Prime Minister Magdalena Andersson.
Addressing the press in her office in Stockholm ahead of the President’s arrival, Ambassador Diana Kiambuthi said President Kenyatta will be leading the Kenyan delegation not just as a co-chair of the meeting but also as a global champion on environmental matters.
“So His Excellency the President will be here (Stockholm) to articulate Kenya’s position on the environmental debate regarding issues to do with climate change, nature and biodiversity loss.
“…it is very important for Kenya to be part of this dialogue, to be part of this meeting, to be able to articulate where we stand and of course to add a voice to the stakeholders who are going to deliberate on how to increase financing towards combating the challenges brought about by climate change,” the Kenyan Ambassador to Sweden said.
Ambassador Kiambuthi added that Stockholm+50 is also a commemoration of the first-ever international meeting on environment held in Stockholm in 1972 that led to the establishment of the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) which Kenya proudly hosts.
Stockholm+50 comes between the 5th session of the United Nations Environment Assembly (UNEA-5.2) and UNEP@ 50 held in Nairobi early this year and the 2022 UN Oceans Conference which Kenya and Portugal will co-host in Lisbon from June 27 to July 1.
Besides the Stockholm+50 meeting, President Kenyatta will also chair a special high-level segment on “the road to Lisbon” for the Oceans Conference as well as hold bilateral meetings with other leaders focusing on the global action on climate change.
On the bilateral front, the Kenyan Ambassador to Sweden said Kenya has enjoyed cordial bilateral relations with the Nordic country for many decades.
“We have received a lot of development assistance in terms of scholarship and social development like in health. But for about the last 10 years we have had a policy shift as a country and we are now pursuing more trade than aid.
“For the few years I have been here, we have been pursuing economic diplomacy with Sweden,” she said.
The Ambassador said Kenya and Sweden are also collaborating at the multilateral level as well as cooperating in the promotion of gender equality, which the Nordic country is well known for.
