Carbon Credit and Trading:
The Law and Practice in Protection of Community Land
Carbon trading can generate real value, but community land is often committed without clear consent, benefit sharing, or enforceable safeguards. This insight highlights the legal requirements and key red flags communities should confirm before signing any carbon project agreement.
CS. Kevin Wakwaya
- [email protected]
- Rachier & Amollo LLP, Mayfair Center 5th Floor
Carbon Credit and Trading: The Law and Practice in Protection of Community Land
CS. Kevin Wakwaya
Article Overview
The article explains carbon credits and how carbon markets operate, then reviews the Kenyan legal and regulatory framework governing carbon projects. It outlines the approval, governance, and benefit-sharing requirements applicable to projects involving public or community land, and notes practical challenges around disclosure and enforcement. It concludes with measures that can improve transparency and accountability in carbon project implementation.
“The key concern of this write-up is whether and how communities can be protected from abuse in the space of carbon trading.”
Key takeaways
- What carbon credits are: a measurable unit tied to reduced, avoided, or sequestered greenhouse gas emissions, traded for value through carbon markets.
- Kenya’s carbon trading regime: anchored in the Climate Change Act, 2016 (Part IVA) and the Climate Change (Carbon Markets) Regulations, 2024, with links to international mechanisms under the Paris Agreement and earlier instruments.
- Community benefits (where land is public/community): projects must operate through a community development agreement, with defined governance structures and community-focused development priorities.
- Benefit sharing requirement: land-based projects must provide a minimum community social contribution tied to project earnings (notably, the article highlights a minimum threshold for land-based projects).
- Protections: strong emphasis on public participation, supermajority approvals, impact assessments, and oversight by national and county government structures when community land is involved.
- Risk area (conservancies): carbon projects may be pursued through conservancies using community land without adequate transparency or compliance, which can undermine intended community protections.
- Way forward: strengthen transparency through accessible registries, enforce statutory requirements before project approval, and ensure agreements are available for public scrutiny to reduce abuse and underpayment.
About the author
Kevin Wakwaya is a Partner at Rachier & Amollo LLP, writing on the legal and regulatory safeguards needed to ensure communities benefit fairly from carbon markets and carbon projects implemented on community land.