The Kenyan activist is restoring mangroves and calling for climate justice 

Joyce Koech needs no introduction in the climate justice community. In her home country of Kenya, Koech works to conserve mangroves along the coast – where the organisation she co-founded has planted more than 63,000 mangroves. Koech is also a powerful climate advocate for Africa on the global stage. She recently spoke to reporter Jean-Pierre Afadhali about her journey into mangrove conservation and her role as an international climate justice activist. 

Q: Please introduce yourself. 

A: I am the founder of Blue Earth Organisation, a women- and youth-led organisation that is working in mangrove restoration on the Kenya coast. We mostly empower women because we know that women face the harshest impacts of climate change – but they also have a lot of solutions to give. Blue Earth Organisation also does climate awareness work, educating young people about what climate change is and teaching them that they’re part of the solution.

Q: When did you found the organisation? 

A: Blue Earth Organisation was founded in 2019 by a group of two other women, plus myself. Living at the coast, we saw the impacts of plastics in our ocean, and we started gathering young people to do something about it. Then in 2020, we joined Fridays for Future [a global, youth-led climate strike movement that began in August 2018], and we started learning about climate change. We went into mangrove restoration because mangroves suck in five times to ten times more carbon than terrestrial forests. They are also endangered. 

We have seen biodiversity coming back [after mangrove planting]. Fishermen are able to have more yield, so that’s improving biodiversity and the livelihoods of people. Mangroves act as a carbon sink – so by planting we’re able to restore a huge ecosystem that’s also great at fighting climate change.

Q: Tell us about your experience in climate justice at the international level.

A: So far, I have attended three COPs [Conferences of the Parties, the UN’s primary climate summits]. My role in those spaces is to tell people that there is this whole ecosystem that’s really important in carbon sequestration, and to fight for climate justice. Climate justice says that people who have experienced the worst impacts of climate change need to be empowered or shielded – and funded. 

The COPs are a really important space for me – first of all, because I am a woman, and second, because I come from a region that is disproportionately affected by climate change. So, in these spaces, I call for climate justice, reparations, and a loss and damage fund. These climate conversations should bring to the table people who have first-hand experience, first-hand impact – because they are able to tell you the real story.