Conversations from UNEA 7

By Sam Makau, Co-Moderator, UNEA-7

I had the privilege of co-steering a powerful conversation at the UNEA-7. The session, “Greening Our Horizons: Soroptimists Leading the Way,” with the theme Investing in Women & Youth. Restoring Ecosystems. Advancing Climate Policy.wasn’t just another panel. It was a living testament to a simple, transformative truth: if you want to solve the world’s most complex ecological and climate challenges, you must invest in the leadership of women and young people.

We heard from 15-year-old Ellyanne, the “Tree Girl of Africa,” who has mobilized the planting of over 1.3 million trees. We learned from Naiyan Kiplagat, who unites 3,000 Indigenous Ogiek and Maasai women practicing knowledge-rich, sustainable agriculture. We felt the governmental commitment to mainsteam climate change conversations from Principal Secretary Carren Agengo and the global strategic vision of Soroptimist International President Siew Yong.

The takeaways were clear:

1. Invest Early: Don’t just engage youth and women as beneficiaries. Invest in their ideas, their enterprises, and their leadership from the start.
2. Share Power: Inclusive power structures are not a charitable add-on; they are a prerequisite for effective, sustainable solutions.

But as I listened, my mind, shaped by my work with research and development coalitions like CHReaD, raced to a critical, interconnected question: Where is the R&D in this picture?

The brilliant, community-powered solutions we celebrated yesterday are often born of necessity, traditional knowledge, and incredible grit. They work. But how do we move from praising these proofs of concept to scaling them as proofs of impact?

This is the vital bridge between grassroots action and transformational change: Research and Development.

R&D is the engine that can:

• Validate and Optimize: Take Naiyan’s intercropping techniques, what specific soil health and biodiversity metrics do they improve? Research can quantify this, turning a successful practice into a replicable model.
• Translate Lived Experience into Policy: Dr. Habiba Alambo presented the powerful frame: “No water security without women.” R&D provides the rigorous data and case studies that turn this truth into compelling evidence for budget allocations and policy reform.
• Amplify Youth Innovation: Ellyanne uses AI in her environmental work. R&D partnerships can help refine these tech solutions, making them more accessible and effective, transforming a young innovator’s tool into a national asset.
• Drive Targeted Investment: When Mary Muia calls for partnerships to scale tree planting, the question for donors and governments is: “What’s the return?” R&D provides the answer, not just in trees planted, but in carbon sequestered, ecosystems restored, and livelihoods created.

Yesterday’s session was a masterclass in the “what” and the “why.” The “how to scale” is where a thriving Culture of Science must come in. It’s about creating a ecosystem where:

• Community innovators have pathways to work with researchers and access markets.
• Policymakers oversight treatement that includes traditional and grassroots knowledge.
• Funding flows to the intersection of local action and rigorous development science.

Investing in women and youth is indeed a moral imperative. But sessions like yesterday’s prove it is more so our greatest strategic and scientific imperative. Their solutions are on the ground. Our role in the R&D community is not to overshadow them, but to listen, collaborate, and build the evidentiary and innovative pathways that allow their leadership to reshape our world.

The call from UNEA-7 is clear: Let’s move beyond applause. Let’s partner, research, develop, and invest. Let’s build a future where the genius of community-led action is powered by the rigour of science. That’s the horizon we must green together.

#CultureOfScience #UNEA7 #InvestInWomen #YouthLeadership #R&D #CHReaD