A parliamentary committee has backed a Bill on the regulation of the generation and sharing of carbon credit billions.
The National Assembly’s Budget and Appropriations Committee (BAC) has approved the Carbon Credit and Benefit Sharing Bill, 2023 for a formal introduction to Parliament.
Sponsored by Laisamis MP Joseph Lekuton, it seeks to provide a legal framework for carbon markets.
The project owner will get 40 percent of the proceeds, the community (33 percent), county government (10 percent), managing authority (five percent) and national research fund (two percent).
If the land is private, the local community will get 20 percent of the proceeds, the county government (10) national government (10) and the project owner (10 percent).
For community forests, the community will get 55 percent of the proceeds, the national government (25 percent), the county government (15 percent) and the national managing authority (five percent).
Proceeds from private forests will see the owner take the lion’s share of 60 percent, the community (25 percent), and five percent each for county government, national government and the managing authority.
For rangelands, project managers and local communities will each get 40 percent while the county and national governments will have 10 percent as the managing agency remains with five percent.
The Bill rivals another one sponsored by the government through the Ministry of Environment.
“It is estimated that Kenya will earn Sh100 billion annually for selling carbon credits. Kenya at the moment controls 20 percent of the carbon credits market,” Mr Lekuton said while defending the Bill before the BAC.
“The market of carbon credit goes up every day. Some Saudi Arabia companies came to buy carbon credits in Kenya and bought 2.2 million tonnes recently.”
Mr Lekuton said no law regulates carbon credit. We want to structure it to ensure law and order in this trade.”
“Carbon Credit is going to be a big foreign exchange earner for our country.”
