Kenya Environmental Management and Coordination Bill 2022: rights of nature and environmental defenders

Summary

On February 25, 2022, a bill was introduced in the National Assembly of Kenya to amend the Environmental Management and Co-ordination Act (EMCA) of 1999 to incorporate the rights of nature and crimes against the environment. The legislation was submitted by Amos Kimunya, Leader of the Majority in the National Assembly (Jubilee Party), but was ultimately not approved by the Kenyan parliament.

Legal Provisions
The proposed EMCA 2022 provides critical recognition and protection for defenders of environmental rights, conservation of urban forests and green spaces, recognition of the rights of nature, and the creation of a crime of ecocide. Part II – Guiding Principles, stipulates the following:

5. (1) Nature has the right to exist, persist, maintain and regenerate its vital cycles, structure, functions and its processes in evolution. (2) The Authority shall apply precaution and restriction measures in all activities that can lead to the extinction of species, the destruction of the ecosystems or the permanent alteration of the natural cycle. (3) Where a person alleges that the right of nature has been, is being or is likely to be denied, violated, infringed or threatened, that person may on their behalf or on behalf of a group or class of persons, members of an association or in the public interest, apply to the Environment and Land Court for redress.

Currently, the EMCA 1999 (revised 2022) includes sections the conservation of biological diversity in Kenya, including “integrating traditional knowledge for the conservation of biological diversity with mainstream scientific knowledge” and principles of ecological sustainable development, including “the cultural and social principles traditionally applied by any community in Kenya for the management of the environment or natural resources”, but does not go as far as recognizing the inherent value, or rights, of nature or ecosystems.