Analysis of Kenya’s Legal and Institutional Framework on Environmental Management in Production of Fossil Fuels

Abstract

Fossil fuels have for millions of years been used as sources of energy. Fossil fuels like coal, oil are the most commonly used forms of energy. The main problem is that they can easily be depleted. Fossil fuels like coal are cheap to use but produce the highest percentage of greenhouse gases. Fossil fuels extraction and production is a great source of revenue to a state but if not properly managed can cause major disaster to the environment. According to the Brundtland report a state is regarded to have sustainably developed if the state can meet the needs of current without compromising the ability of the future generations to meet its needs Recently Kenya was blessed by the discovery of Oil and Coal which stirred a lot of excitement among its citizens. With the fact that the country is faced with a huge debt, the discovery brought a sigh of relief to its people. At the same time a form of uncertainty and worry has loomed in the country. Countries like Nigeria, Syria, Sudan, Afghanistan, Mexico contain fossil fuels but the country and its citizens continue to live with poverty. This means that production of fossil fuels does not benefit a state, instead how you manage the fossil fuel and the environment is how a country can sustainably grow. Kenya has a detailed Constitution that recognises the need of proper environmental management and natural resources. Kenya has over the years developed its laws to harmonise with the new constitution as well as regional environmental instruments. With its rich environmental legal framework, Kenya possesses a major threat, that is inability to efficiently and effectively implement and enforce its environmental laws and policies. Various factors have generated this problem. They include; insecurity, lack of proper public participation and EIA, complexity in implementing the laws, inability to balance between economic development and environment protection,impunity in government, lack of modern environmentally friendly technology and lastly lack of skilled human resource on matters of environment. This paper aims at addressing the matters and providing solutions to the problems.