Generational sovereignty can be achieved through the participation of humanity as a whole in achieving the different sustainable development goals that will in turn benefit a large number of the different masses as they seek to create a nation that is sustainable for all and can enable their thriving. One of the key sustainable development goals that are achieved by engaging the commons on environmental matters, is Sustainable Development Goal 15 which generally discusses Life on land. The Sustainable Development Goals (SDG’s) were set out by the United Nations in the year 2015, the idea behind it being to protect, restore and promote sustainable use of terrestrial ecosystems, sustainably manage the growth and development of forests, help in the combat against deforestation, and halt and reverse land degradation and halt the rapid loss of the Earth’s biodiversity. SDG 15 has in total, 12 goals that are to be achieved by the year 2030 to provide for a better world we can all experience a sustainable life by living in it.

In embracing the aspect of SDG 15 and ensuring that I have been engaging myself on matters concerning environmental sustainability, I used my position as the Regional Ambassador for Tunza Eco - Generation to engage several youths and the community to create awareness of the environment. In that position, I was able to write several articles concerning the environment, it’s the care and the aftermath that can exist from failing to care for the environment from the local to the international level. The education sector has grown towards the accommodation of online learning through the use of different articles online has enabled my articles to be shared widely and reach a greater mass of people all over the world. The articles discuss how the youth and the commons of a nation can engage themselves in discussing different environmental aspects among themselves to spearhead a change from their local community perspective.

Writing has several challenges and opportunities at the same time, consequently, I decided to engage several youths who can write on different aspects of the environment and the part it plays in achieving climate justice. In these articles, our main focus was the need to protect the environment from pollution at all costs. This included the air pollution, soil, and water pollution that have been an issue of concern in recent times. The issue of plastic waste management was also a basis for writing as we were seeking to engage the public on the need to care for the beaches and embrace the recycling of plastic bottles other than dumping them on the shores of the sandy beaches. It has been recently proven that several oceans have become the dumpster of no longer used plastic bottles, having in mind that they are degradable, not non-biodegradable. When the aquatic animals consume such, they are choked to death.

With this notion in mind, I created a program in the community together with the youth and the community elders to clean the beaches of plastic bottles. We had a walk for the environment conservation that ended up with a two-day session to clean different beaches in our community. True to our thoughts, the beaches were fully loaded with plastic bottles and plastic paper, some of them floating on the large water body masses. Through this program in conjunction with the community leaders, we were able to sensitize the community on the massive effects of poor disposal of plastic waste materials. We have seen a great change in the community since then concerning the cleanliness of the beaches to promote a clean environment and the protection of aquatic animals that are habitants of the water bodies.

The community has been of great appreciation towards climate action as I held community programs twice a month whereby the youth led the meetings to discuss issues impacting our environment and how we can care for the environment individually and collectively for the sole purpose of achieving a habitable life on land. These discussions were geared towards creating awareness among different groups in the society since ignorance has been the main reason the environment has been deteriorating over the years. Our aim was achieved as we saw the involvement of the community members in carrying out collective activities to care for the environment from their homes and also cut the use of scarce resources such as water. These programs and sessions were also concluded with a tree planting exercise to promote afforestation and a greener environment that brings about purified air. We would go around the community planting tree seedlings and watering them mostly in the areas that had suffered great deforestation. Through this activity, we also educated the community on refraining from cutting down trees as a source of their livelihood as the future generations shall not have a place to call home if the habit is upheld. Mohith Agadi once said, “The environment is no one’s property to destroy, it’s everyone’s responsibility to protect.” I have upheld this in mind and sensitized a greater mass of the community in caring for the environment and I believe the nation should be a part of the movement in caring for our environment.