Kenya passed its Climate Change Act in 2016. This Act was subsequently amended in September 2023 to, amongst other amendments, provide a legal framework for regulation of carbon markets. The Climate Change Council is entrusted to provide guidance and policy direction on carbon markets to national and county governments. The 2023 amendment places an obligation on proponents of carbon trading projects to specify the anticipated environmental, economic and social benefits of the project. All projects shall be implemented through a community development agreement, recorded in the National Carbon Registry. For land-based projects, the agreement should provide an annual contribution of at least 40% of the aggregate earnings, whilst non-land-based projects require 25%.&nbsp;
This Act provides a framework for promoting climate resilient low carbon economic development. It aims to:
<ol>
<li>mainstream climate change responses into development planning, decision making and implementation;</li>
<li>build resilience and enhance adaptive capacity to the impacts of climate change;</li>
<li>formulate programmes and plans to enhance the resilience and adaptive capacity of human and ecological systems to the impacts of climate change;</li>
<li>mainstream and reinforce climate change disaster risk reduction in strategies and actions of public and private entities;</li>
<li>mainstream intergenerational and gender equity in all aspects of climate change responses;</li>
<li>provide incentives and obligations for private sector contributions to achieving low carbon climate resilient development;</li>
<li>promote low carbon technologies to improve efficiency and reduce emissions intensity by facilitating approaches and uptake of technologies that support low carbon, and climate resilient development;</li>
<li>facilitate capacity development for public participation in climate change responses through awareness creation, consultation, representation and access to information;</li>
<li>mobilize and transparently manage public and other financial resources for climate change response;</li>
<li>provide mechanisms for, and facilitate climate change research and development, training and capacity building;</li>
<li>mainstream the principle of sustainable development into the planning for and decision making on climate change response; and</li>
<li>integrate climate change into the exercise of power and functions of all levels of governance, and to enhance cooperative climate change governance between national government and county governments'.</li>
</ol>
The Act establishes a National Climate Change Council, chaired by the President, with Deputy President as vice-chair, that provides an overarching national climate change coordination mechanism. It also establishes the Climate Change Directorate - Secretariat to the Council and the lead agency of the government on national climate change plans and actions. The prerogatives of the National Climate Change Council include (Art 6):
<ol>
<li>ensure the mainstreaming of the climate change function by the national and county governments;</li>
<li>approve and oversee implementation of the National Climate Change Action Plan</li>
<li>advise the national and county governments on legislative, policy and other measures necessary for climate change response and attaining low carbon climate change resilient development;</li>
<li>approve a national gender and intergenerational responsive public education awareness strategy and implementation programme;</li>
<li>provide policy direction on research and training on climate change including on the collation and dissemination of information relating to climate change to the national and county governments, the public and other stakeholders;</li>
<li>provide guidance on review, amendment and harmonization of sectoral laws and policies in order to achieve the objectives of the Act;</li>
<li>administer the Climate Change Fund;</li>
<li>set the targets for the regulation of greenhouse gas emissions'.</li>
</ol>
 The Act allows the Council to impose climate change obligations on private entities (Art 16), and stipulates investigation, monitoring and enforcement powers. The Act also mandates the Cabinet Secretary to formulate a National Climate Change Action Plan, to be then updated every five years, with implementation review conducted every two years. The Act allows Citizens to apply to the Environment and Land Court "alleging that a person has acted in a manner that has or is likely to adversely affect efforts towards mitigation and adaptation to the effects of climate change" and the court may order a discontinuance or prevention of these actions, and may "provide compensation to a victim of a violation relating to climate change duties." It is stipulated that no proof of loss or injury by the applicant is necessary (Art 23). The Act also empowers the National Climate Change Council to assign duties relating to climate change and implementation of the Climate Change Action Plan to both public and private entities (Part IV). It also establishes the Climate Change Fund as the financing mechanism for priority climate change actions and interventions approved by the council. The Fund revenue should come from (Art 25):
<ol>
<li>'monies appropriated from the Consolidated Fund by an Act of Parliament;</li>
<li>monies received byt eh Fund in the form of donations, endowments, grants and gifts; and</li>
<li>monies under and Act payable to the Fund'.</li>
</ol>

Climate Change Act

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Climate Change (Amendment) Act, 2023

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An aim to achieve a quantifiable outcome within a given time-frame, set by an institution such as a national government.

Policy instruments are techniques or tools used by governing authorities to promote certain policies in order to achieve predetermined goals. Put simply, instruments are how a government tries to achieve its goals, with this taxonomy being focused on national policy instruments.

Risk is the potential for adverse consequences resulting from the dynamic interplay between (climate-related) hazards, exposure, and vulnerability of affected human or ecological systems.

Groups  of people who are adversely affected by climate change or the response to it

A set of principles, processes, and practices that build economic and political power to shift from an extractive economy to a regenerative economy.

Justice is the ethical and political framework that addresses fairness, including issues of responsibility, rights, and structural inequity.

Renewable energy means all forms of energy produced from renewable sources in a sustainable manner.

Fossil fuel is a generic term for non-renewable energy sources such as coal, fossil gas, and oil (including crude oil, and petroleum products), that can be used for electricity and heat generation. Fossil fuels are hydrocarbons formed from pressurised and heated organic material buried over millions of years.

Molecules in the atmosphere that play a key role in the greenhouse effect by trapping heat radiating from Earth’s surface.

Area of the economy in which actors engage in identical or related activities.

In human systems, the process of adjustment to actual or expected climate change and its effects, in order to moderate harm, increase resilience or exploit beneficial opportunities. In natural systems, the process of adjustment to actual climate change and its effects; human intervention may facilitate adjustment to expected climate change and its effects.

The management and allocation of funds, assets and investments to meet various objectives

Compulsory, required payments to the government that are levied more-or-less in proportion to the services provided. Fees and charges range from entrance fees to national parks, charges on land-based sewage discharge.

Tradable permits are market-based tools that grant permission for specific activities, frequently used to regulate emissions. These permits can be issued within a trading system to manage environmental impacts.

Either money or something of monetary value is transferred between two or more organisations, people or countries.

Actions or measures to adapt terrestrial systems to climate change.

The release of heat-trapping gases, primarily from human activities such as burning fossil fuels, agriculture and industry.

A long-lived, colourless gas, chiefly emitted from fossil fuel combustion, deforestation and cement production.

Terrestrial means "of the earth" and relates to the risks to ecological system that includes all living organisms and their interactions within land-based environments, such as forests, grasslands, and deserts.

Fossil gas, commonly known as natural gas, is a fossil fuel consisting chiefly of methane with smaller amounts of other hydrocarbons and trace gases, found in underground deposits.

Any compulsory, unrequited payment to the government levied on corporations or individuals. This can be for environmental reasons, such as introducing a Carbon tax to set a price that emitters must pay for the greenhouse gases they emit.

This sector involves activities that impart knowledge and skills to individuals, including formal schooling, vocational training and educational support.

Activities that relate to the production of goods and services from forests.

the fair distribution of risks and opportunities of climate change and the transition to a regenerative economy, cognisant in particular of disproportionate impacts on vulnerable communities and the working class

Procedural justice means ensuring that decision making is safe, transparent and inclusive, emphasizing the agency and influence of vulnerable groups and those most impacted.

Climate change impacts our society by disrupting the natural, economic and social systems we depend on. Physical hazards and underlying vulnerabilities can lead to increased resource competition for food and water, which can heighten the risk of conflict.

Slow onset events evolve gradually from incremental changes over many years or from increased frequency or intensity of recurring events. As defined in the Cancun Adaptation Framework (2010), slow onset events include risks and impacts from rising temperatures, desertification, biodiversity loss, land and forest degradation, glacial retreat, ocean acidification, sea level rise, and salinization.

Climate Change (Amendment) Act, 2023

Policy instrument

Risk

Impacted group

Just transition

Climate justice

Fossil fuel

Greenhouse gas

Economic sector

Adaptation/resilience

Finance