Most of the developing countries including Kenya may not have paid much attention to COP26 held late last year in Glasgow. As the world converged to discuss measures of reducing carbon emission under the theme Net Zero, many developing countries have experienced devastating effects of climatic change.
Such devastating situations have ranged from floods, erratic weather patterns of lanina and bush fires – situations that have shoved many people towards poverty.
Countries have developed policies to reduce carbon emission under the green industrial revolution concept. For example, UK has committed to end the sale of new petrol and diesel vehicles by 2030.
Setting sights towards global concerns, the Kenya Bureau of Standards (KEBS) has adopted various standards to minimise carbon footprint and preserve air quality. These include KS ISO 14064- 1 & 2 that provide the country’s standard of limits in greenhouse gas emissions, KS ISO 10155:1995 that guides stationary source emissions to regulate air quality, KS EAS 752:2010 that sets maximum levels for tolerance of emissions discharged in the air, as well as KS EAS 158 that guides on acceptable lead levels in gasoline specifications.
To minimise emission of fossil fuels, KEBS has developed standards KS ISO 22241:2021. The standards are a catalyst that reduce Nitrogen Oxides (NOx). These are a family of poisonous, highly reactive gases that affect our respiratory system. Additionally, the Bureau has gazetted regulations that govern the emission levels of both manufactured and imported vehicles operating in the country where all vehicles must comply to Euro IV emission levels.
More recently, the government adopted the use of ICT to make its processes efficient and effective. By providing an enabling environment to its population to adopt innovation, the Bureau has cushioned the environment from harm as it continues to put in place standards to regulate Kenya’s commendable technological progress. Thereby preventing environmental damage and ensuring responsible and efficient use of energy.
Some of the notable standards, which KEBS has developed include KS 2880-1:2020 and KS 2879-1:2020, both of which set Minimum Energy Performance Standards (MEPS) for ICT equipment.
Quality of Water
Safeguarding the quality of water is important for both human and aquatic life as outlined in SDG 14: Life Below Water that addresses conservation and sustainably use of the oceans, seas and marine resources for sustainable development.
Some of the standards that protect health of water bodies include KS ISO 8689-1:2000 outline the biological classification of rivers; an important water source for a majority of the country’s population. KS 1966-1:2007 guidelines provides the tolerance levels of effluents discharged into the river, while KS 2067-2:2009 provides methods of sampling for wastewater, whose contaminant load originates from sugar industries.
Standards also play an important role in promoting sustainable use of energy as addressed by Goal 7: Affordable and Clean Energy that ensure access to affordable, reliable, sustainable and modern energy for all. Of noteworthy are standards that help organizations and households to adopt efficient energy use.
These standards will in the long-term help Kenya to build sustainable cities and communities. For example, KS ISO 37101, lays out a management system for sustainable development in smart and productive communities, using a holistic approach. This ensures consistency with the sustainable development policies.
The standards that the Bureau continues to develop purposes to address all the 17 SDGs. To this effect KEBS has adopted over 340 ISO Standards, that address climate change challenges including special technologies such as refrigerants, energy in its various forms, sustainability and environment, building and construction, mechanical engineering, services industries (such as tourism), ores and metals, transport, freight, packaging and distribution, non-metallic materials, security, safety and risk.
KEBS will continue working hand in hand with both internal and external stakeholders, policy makers, private sector and government agencies to consistently develop and adopt standards as part of their contribution towards the SGG and most importantly, strengthen the means of implementation and revitalise the Partnership for Sustainable Development as envisioned in SGD 17: Partnerships for the Goals.
One such notable partnership with NEMA resulted in the eradication of plastic paper bags in 2017 is a testament how combined efforts can bring a long-lasting positive change to the environment.
