In 1974, scientists published their very first scientific hypotheses that the chemicals we produced had the potential to harm the stratospheric ozone layer. They indicated that Chlorofluorocarbons could migrate to the stratosphere, remain there for decades and even centuries, and release chlorine that broke down the ozone layer; thereby allowing harmful ultraviolet rays into the earth’s surface.
Ozone depletion is not the principal cause of global climate change, although both are indirectly linked because the Ozone, Ozone depleting substances and their substitutes are greenhouse gases. While the naturally occurring greenhouse gases (such as water vapour and ozone) balance the incoming solar radiation and outgoing infra-red radiation, increased human activities since the Industrial Era have increased the abundance of these greenhouse gases (such as Methane, Carbon Dioxide and Nitrous Oxide) within the earth’s atmosphere. These gases have resulted to more absorption of the outgoing radiation by blanketing the earth’s atmosphere and warming the surface of the earth, thereby leading to global warming and climate change. Carbon dioxide is the principal greenhouse gas, therefore the use of “carbon” in place of greenhouse gases is quite widespread.
“Trading in Carbon” takes place when companies or countries are permitted to emit a certain amount (levels of allowed emissions) of carbon dioxide or greenhouse gases. Trading involves the actual buying and selling of carbon through allotted amounts of emission “credits” known as carbon credits or carbon offsets. One unit of carbon credit allows for the emission of a ton of greenhouse gas. Companies that pollute are awarded credits that allow them to continue to pollute, but only to a certain limit. This allows them to sell any unused or unneeded units to companies or countries that have exhausted their limit. According to the United States Environmental Protection Agency, Congress created the Acid Rain Program, the world’s very first cap and trade program, whose purpose was to reduce emission of Sulphur Dioxide from coal-fired power plants that caused acid rain in the 1980’s, by making amendments to the Clean Air Act. Since then, the trading in carbon program has created a “carbon market” through tracking of its trading; and has been replicated in global treaties on climate change.
Such international and regional instruments include;
- United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) and its operationalizing Protocol: Kyoto Protocol on Climate Change
- Vienna Convention for the Protection of the Ozone Layer and its operationalizing Protocol: Montreal Protocol on Substances that Deplete the Ozone Layer
- Paris Agreement on Climate Change
- Nairobi Declaration [African Leaders Nairobi Declaration on Climate Change and Call to Action]
ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION IN KENYA
Before the enactment of the Environmental Management and Coordination Act, Kenya’s environmental protection was governed by 78 sectoral laws that dealt with different aspects of the environment including forestry, water, mining, fisheries, wildlife and agriculture. The laws created numerous institutions and procedures for implementation of their respective objectives which overlapped, resulting in conflict among the laws and the respective institutions they created. As a result, the enactment of the Environmental Management and Coordination Act (EMCA) was meant to bring into harmony Kenya’s
legal and institutional framework governing the environment and natural resources by regulating their use and conservation. To this extent, EMCA established the National Environment Management Authority (NEMA) as the lead agency in coordination, use and protection of all natural resources by ensuring sustainable management of the environment.
EMCA gives effect to articles 42, 69 and 70 of the Constitution of Kenya that guarantee the right to a clean and healthy environment and its protection for the benefit of present and future generations. Arguably, by creating the right to a clean and healthy environment under article 42, the Constitution elevated the status and importance of environmental protection in Kenya.
However, up until the enactment of the Climate Change Act in 2016, Kenya lacked a comprehensive national framework on climate change. Stated to be the very first national legal framework within the African continent, it sought to minimize climate change risks and was signed into law by the then President His Excellency Hon. Uhuru Kenyatta on 6th May 2016.
In 2023, Parliament passed the Climate Change (Amendment) Act that came into force just days before the Inaugural Africa Climate Summit in September. The Summit culminated in the Nairobi Declaration [African Leaders Nairobi Declaration on Climate Change and Call to Action] in which African Heads of State and Governments agreed to call for a new global financial architecture to provide accessible & affordable green finance, and the introduction of a global carbon tax.
The Climate Change Act is said to have created a legal framework that placed climate change concerns at the center of the development process in Kenya.
“Africa contributes less than 3% of the pollution responsible for climate change but is most severely impacted by the ensuing crisis. […] Kenya’s next significant market will be carbon credits. This is why we call for simplified, more transparent carbon market systems that directly benefits communities and not just intermediaries.”
His Excellency Hon. William Samoei RutoKenya’s Carbon Projects have successfully integrated Nature based solutions (NBS) to climate change. These solutions involve working with nature through an integrated approach that has the potential of addressing both issues of climate change and the loss of biodiversity. They include actions that involve the protection, restoration and management of natural and semi-natural ecosystems, sustainable development or the creation of new ecosystems. If well-designed, they can deliver multiple benefits, including protecting and restoring habitats that contribute to climate change adaptation by protecting communities and infrastructure; while simultaneously increasing carbon sequestration and protecting biodiversity.
Some of these projects include;
- Kenya Agricultural Carbon Project
- ‘Mikoko Pamoja’ Mangrove Project
- Chyulu Hills REDD+ Carbon Project
- Northern Kenya Rangeland Carbon Project
A more detailed analysis on the law and trading in carbon is accessible here.
No responses yet