Carbon Markets as a Solution to Climate Change in Kenya

The Institution of Engineers in Kenya

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Abstract: Climate change means a change of climate which is attributed directly or indirectly to humanactivities that alters the composition of the global atmosphere and which is in addition to naturalclimate variability observed over comparable time periods.Kenyaâ??s successive climate change impacts over the past 10 years have resulted to socio-economic losses estimated at 3-5% of the Gross Domestic product (GDP) annually, this has animpedance to the realization of vision 2030. By 2030, projections show that energy (includingtransport) will be the leading emitter of Green House Gases (GHGs) to the atmosphere. This isbecause of increased consumption of fossil fuels in generating electricity, meeting domestic,commercial and industrial heating demands and for transportation. While Kenya has abundantrenewable energy resources such as geothermal, solar and wind power, more than half ofKenyaâ??s Households use wood fuel for domestic uses.Kenyaâ??s total Green House Gas (GHGs) emissions have increased from 56.8 MtCO2 (Milliontonnes of CO2) in 1995 to 93.7 MtCO2 in 2015 and are projected to increase to 143MtCO2 by2030 as the country pursues the Vision 2030 development agenda. (Kenyaâ??s Updated NationallyDetermined Contribution)Furthermore, Africa is accountable for only 3.6% of global emissions but suffers a huge impactof climate change. This has called for various actions to address the adverse climate change,Carbon markets are one of those ways to curb climate change.