Kîbugi 🇰🇪

Happening Now: Principal Secretary for @EnviClimateC_Ke @Eng_F_Ngeno . Festus K. Ng’eno, together with @UNDPKenya Resident Representative @JLStalon are presides over the Launch of the Draft National Environment Policy 2026 for Stakeholder & Public Participation #NEPReview2026

The Technical Working Group Workshop reviewing the National Environment Policy has entered its third and final day in Machakos, with the three groups presenting the outcomes of their deliberations and proposed revisions to the Zero Draft. Head of the Legal Unit, Ms. Linah Meeme, guided the session, as the Technical Working Groups presented and discussed their proposed revisions. The groups have been reviewing key areas covering climate change and natural resources; environmental quality, pollution and land; and governance, law and institutions. Their work is now being consolidated in plenary to resolve cross-cutting issues and agree on revisions that will inform preparation of the First Draft. Lead Consultant Prof. Robert Kibugi urged participants to use simple and easy to understand language, noting that the policy must be easily understood by the people it is intended to serve, including those without technical expertise. Among the issues receiving attention are emerging environmental governance challenges that were either absent or not sufficiently developed when the existing policy was formulated. These include Artificial Intelligence (AI) in environmental governance, rights of nature and ecocide, alongside carbon markets, loss and damage, just transition, environmental data governance and nature-based solutions. The workshop will conclude with agreed revisions, drafting guidance and a roadmap towards finalisation and clearance of the First Draft. #NEPReview2026 #NationalEnvironmentPolicyReview #EnvironmentalGovernance

Most environmental harm in Kenya has occurred long before it becomes visible, in decisions about where infrastructure is put, how land use is planned, and what public money is spent on. A policy that enhances the role of environmental considerations and governance in those decisions, at the time they are being made, would achieve more than enforcement can achieve afterwards - Prof. Robert Kibugi, Lead Consultant NEP Review

The National Environment Policy, 2013 is under review to align it with Kenya’s evolving legal, institutional and international environmental governance framework. Key developments include devolution of environmental functions, amendments to the Climate Change Act introducing carbon markets, and strengthened commitments under the Paris Agreement and other multilateral environmental agreements - Linah Meeme, Head Legal Unit

𝐊𝐞𝐧𝐲𝐚 𝐀𝐝𝐯𝐚𝐧𝐜𝐞𝐬 𝐑𝐞𝐯𝐢𝐞𝐰 𝐨𝐟 𝐍𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐚𝐥 𝐄𝐧𝐯𝐢𝐫𝐨𝐧𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐏𝐨𝐥𝐢𝐜𝐲 𝐭𝐨 𝐀𝐝𝐝𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐬 𝐄𝐦𝐞𝐫𝐠𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐄𝐧𝐯𝐢𝐫𝐨𝐧𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐚𝐥 𝐏𝐫𝐢𝐨𝐫𝐢𝐭𝐢𝐞𝐬 The Government has stepped up the review of Kenya’s National Environment Policy to ensure the country’s environmental governance framework responds effectively to emerging challenges, including climate change, carbon markets, biodiversity loss, pollution, devolution and increasing climate-related disasters. Principal Secretary for Environment and Climate Change Dr. Eng. Festus K. Ng’eno, today officially opened virtually a three-day Technical Working Group (TWG) Workshop for the Review of the National Environment Policy, 2013, which is currently taking place at a Machakos hotel. The workshop, running from 8–10 September 2026, brings together representatives from Government, county governments, development partners, civil society and other environmental experts to move the review process from the Zero Draft towards the First Draft of the revised policy. Speaking during the opening, Dr. Ng’eno said the National Environment Policy currently in force was adopted in 2013 and no longer adequately reflects the significant legal, institutional, environmental and governance changes Kenya has experienced over the past 13 years. He noted that since the policy was adopted, Kenya has operationalised devolved government, strengthened jurisprudence around the constitutional right to a clean and healthy environment, enacted the Climate Change Act, introduced a legal framework for carbon markets and assumed new international obligations under instruments such as the Paris Agreement and the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework. The country is also confronting environmental challenges that were not adequately anticipated by the 2013 policy, including increasingly severe droughts and floods and rising lake levels. “A policy written for 2013 cannot competently govern us currently and in the next 10 years,” the PS said, underscoring the need for a policy that is grounded in the Constitution, responsive to devolution, informed by emerging knowledge and aligned with Kenya’s laws and international commitments. The review is informed by an extensive Environment Policy Gap Analysis and Needs Assessment undertaken by Lead Consultant @Kibugy, which assessed the 2013 policy against Kenya’s current legal, institutional, scientific and governance landscape. The analysis identified gaps arising from developments since 2013 and emerging priorities, including climate finance, the blue economy and just transition. Dr. Ng’eno said the workshop builds on the policy review process launched in January 2026, when stakeholders from the national and county governments, development partners, civil society, private sector and academia participated in the first consultative forum. The recommendations from that engagement are now being taken forward by the Technical Working Groups. During the three-day workshop, participants have been organised into three Technical Working Groups focusing on climate change and natural resources; environmental quality and land; and governance, law and institutions. Among the issues under consideration are climate adaptation and mitigation, carbon markets and climate finance, biodiversity, forests, wetlands, the blue economy, pollution, waste and plastics, circular economy, land degradation, environmental rights, devolution, institutional coordination, enforcement and environmental financing. The working groups will undertake a detailed review of the Zero Draft, determining which provisions should be retained, revised, deleted or supplemented. The process is expected to culminate in consolidated recommendations and drafting guidance that will inform preparation of the First Draft of the revised National Environment Policy. More 👉facebook.com/share/p/1HuA6jz… #NationalEnvironmentPolicy #NEPReview2026 #EnvironmentalGovernance @UNDPKenya