Kenya has introduced a formal ceiling on the volume of carbon credits it will authorize for sale to international buyers, part of a new rule book officials say is designed to stop the country from overselling emissions reductions it may later need to meet its own climate targets.
The State Department for Environment and Climate Change has capped credit transfers at 10 million tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent between now and 2030. Carbon credits are earned by projects such as reforestation, clean cookstoves, or renewable energy that remove or avoid emissions, and are then sold to companies elsewhere seeking to offset their own carbon output.
The guide, released on Monday, creates a framework for approving projects under Article 6 of the Paris Agreement, which allows countries to trade emission reduction credits to help meet global climate targets. It replaces a three stage approval pathway, No-Objection, Approval and Authorization with clearer, published criteria.
Kenya’s carbon budget covers emissions reductions generated in the energy, transportation, industrial processes and waste sectors, with annual allocations capped at 1.67 million metric tons of carbon dioxide equivalent.
Environment Cabinet Secretary Deborah Barasa said the framework “introduces a national carbon budget for trading to safeguard our Nationally Determined Contribution,” referring to Kenya’s binding emissions-reduction pledge under the Paris Agreement. Environment and Climate Change Principal Secretary Festus Ng’eno described the budget as “a binding safeguard” that gives state agencies practical decision-making tools throughout a project’s lifecycle. He added that government decisions will rest on “clear, published criteria designed to deliver national benefits without compromising Kenya’s climate integrity.”
The move comes as Kenya also works toward launching a domestic carbon exchange. The Nairobi International Financial Centre, the Capital Markets Authority and the Nairobi Securities Exchange are targeting a launch by the end of March 2027, aiming to attract capital into carbon and other environmental asset trading.
Officials say the twin measures an export cap paired with a local trading platform are meant to balance investor interest in Kenya’s carbon market with the country’s own long term decarbonization obligations.
