Kenya is advancing its position in international carbon markets with the release of a draft regulation to create a national carbon credit registry. The proposed system, now open for public feedback, is designed to comply with Article 6 of the Paris Agreement and aims to ensure greater transparency and accountability in tracking carbon credits and emission reductions.
The draft outlines a secure electronic platform that will log and manage data related to carbon projects. It will serve developers, government agencies, civil society, and credit buyers by offering clarity on registry functions and reducing the risk of double-counting.
‘The National Carbon Registry shall be a secure electronic system established for the purpose of recording, tracking, and managing information on carbon projects’, the regulation states.
Clarice Wambua, a lawyer based in Nairobi and expert in Kenya’s carbon policy landscape, explained that the regulation not only sets the stage for the central registry but also opens the door to specialised sector registries. According to her, the implementation timeline depends on the pace of the environment ministry, but rollout could happen within a few months.
Public consultation for the draft regulation started on 17 June and will remain open for 28 days. Given rising interest in carbon market governance, revisions based on stakeholder input are anticipated.
The registry will be responsible for handling Internationally Transferred Mitigation Outcomes (ITMOs), the trading units used in country-to-country carbon market transactions under Article 6.2. It will make a broad range of information available to the public, grouped under legislation, project details, and official templates.
In the project segment, the registry must indicate whether credits stem from bilateral or multilateral initiatives, disclose supporting agreements, and list approved sectors for trade. These ‘whitelists’ are still being finalised.
The templates section will include critical documents such as Letters of Authorisation (LoAs), which are required to approve corresponding adjustments—a safeguard that prevents emissions reductions from being claimed more than once. It will also feature fee structures for these approvals.
Roles for a designated national authority and a registrar are clearly defined, with the latter handling daily operations of the platform. While some industry voices suggest the registry regulation could have been incorporated into a broader framework, the release has been broadly welcomed. Many in the market are now watching for the first issuance of LoAs and corresponding adjustments.
The environment ministry has confirmed that additional regulations—especially those covering the mechanics of corresponding adjustments—are also in development, marking a wider push to activate Kenya’s participation in global carbon trading.