Change Makers is series of interviews with people famous and obscure who are creating a more sustainable world through their work. Meet more Change Makers here.
Image courtesy Roy Brooke/UNEP
Rwanda, though one of the smaller central African countries, is home to the continent's densest population of people who mostly make their livelihood off of the land. A land facing a host of environmental issues such as deforestation, desertification, poaching and water-borne disease—just to name a few. Luckily, there are change makers like Roy Brooke who won't let such overwhelming problems hinder his passion and enthusiasm to help save the environment.
Before setting up camp in Rwanda, Roy worked with the United Nations humanitarian agency in Geneva, helping governments tackle environmental emergencies in countries as far-away as Iran and Yemen to the Ivory Coast. In his current post, he serves as UNEP's Environmental Programme Coordinator based in Rwanda's capital, Kigali. In addition to managing UNEP's activities in the country, he works with both the UN and Rwanda's government to launch programs and initiatives that address the countries environmental challenges.
How did you get into this line of work?
I have always had an interest in nature and the outdoors, which led me to do a Masters in Environment and Development studies. As a political adviser on Parliament Hill in Ottawa, Canada, I became increasingly involved in a range of environmental issues such as developing endangered species legislation and habitat protection. Later, my wife and I had the opportunity to work for international organizations in Geneva, Switzerland. This ultimately led to my current post.
What was your "a-ha" moment?
There have been many. One was realizing that when it comes to environmental issues, if you see something needs to be done, it is important to simply start tackling it. Pretty soon, others will join in and results will follow. This hit home when I initiated activities to 'green' my workplace—I found like-minded and supportive people in places I never would have imagined.
Who is your green hero?
I particularly admire unsung heroes such as my mother-in-law who has, in a quiet way, done an amazing array of things to be informed and live sustainably. More of us should be like this and just get on with it. In the vein of unsung heroes, I also admire activists such as Jack Gibbons from Canada's Ontario Clean Air Alliance who battles tirelessly, effectively and with limited resources for what they believe in. While he is certainly not unsung, Al Gore has done an amazing amount to make climate change real for millions of people. While I worked in Ottawa I had the opportunity to meet people like Amory Lovins, Paul Hawken and Carl Safina, and draw inspiration from their ideas also.
What is your ultimate green goal?
If everyone took action, apparently insoluble environmental problems would be overcome. My goal—or hope perhaps—is that all people act to address environmental issues and feel that their contribution makes a difference.
What is your motivation?
I believe that the planet is in dire straits from an ecological point of view, that none of us have any choice but to act, and that through action, change can result. This sounds almost cliche until one considers it in Rwanda's context. Here, in a very poor country with a deeply troubled past, many people are committed to environmental sustainability in a way that far richer countries with many resources at their disposal could learn from. Whether it is banning plastic bags, restoring badly damaged ecosystems, stemming erosion or encouraging sustainable energy production and consumption, there is a lot of inspiring work happening here and I am motivated to contribute however I can.
What is most important to you, ecologically speaking?
There are many issues to choose from, but I would say preserving all remaining critical ecosystems on the planet, which in turn requires that we tackle a host of other issues including climate change. This is particularly important in Rwanda, a very rural country where the well-being of so many depends on healthy ecosystems—for example almost 90 percent of the population is involved in subsistence agriculture.
What is the most challenging part of your job?
Despite the hype about environmental challenges facing the planet, there are still a great many people who see the environment as a narrow and even peripheral issue rather than something that affects us all in fundamental ways. I am also really amazed, more often than I would like to be, at the number of people who work in environmental organizations or for environmental causes who do not practice what they preach.
What is the most rewarding?
I love the practicality of this job and the proximity to real projects and activities that make a difference in people's lives. I also enjoy working with the Rwandan national environmental authorities, who are incredibly dedicated, professional and do a great deal with limited resources.
Of the people you have worked with, who impresses you most?
At present I would say that my counterparts in the Rwandan environmental authority are the most impressive. Almost no-one in this country was spared the horrors of a devastating genocide that levelled the country, and yet out of this people are building a stable and dynamic nation, an essential part of which is sound environmental management. The head of the environmental management authority Rose Mukankomeje, for example, moves mountains with her energy and determination. That people here lived through things that few of us can even imagine and can then set about building and developing with such ambition and conviction is incredible.
What green thing do you do everyday?
I walk to work every day, don't own a car, follow a mostly vegetarian diet and am fairly religious about turning off lights, saving paper, and the like.
What do you wish you could do?
In many of the organizations I have worked for I have wished I could move faster and dodge bureaucracy and red tape that stifle innovation and action. On a personal level I hope to design and build an entirely green home in the not-too-distant future.
What is your biggest eco-sin?
If you could change one thing in the world, what would it be?
I think many people feel disempowered in the face of global problems like climate change and that their individual efforts don't make much difference, and consequently don't take action. If this could be overcome, the world would be a different place.
What is your best green advice?
See what needs doing, and take the first step towards doing something about it. Action begets action. And, the most important place to start is in one's own life and surroundings.
