Reflections of the Lamu Coal Plant Case

This case study by Natural Justice reflects on the legal victory where the National Environment Tribunal (NET) in Kenya blocked the construction of the Lamu Coal Fired Power Plant by setting aside its environmental license due to inadequate public participation and the omission of climate change assessments.

• The National Environment Tribunal (NET) in Kenya overturned the license issued by the National Environment Management Authority (NEMA) to Amu Power for the 1050MW Lamu Coal Fired Power Plant in the Kwasasi area of Lamu County, ordering a new Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) study.
• The NET's ruling on June 26, 2019, was primarily based on the lack of meaningful public participation and the failure to include a climate change assessment in the EIA, which rendered the report inadequate and incomplete.
• The court highlighted the necessity of a Strategic Environmental Assessment (SEA) to evaluate alternative project locations at a policy level and rejected a 'check-box approach' to public participation, insisting on strict adherence to EIA Regulations.
• The legal challenge, filed by Save Lamu through the Katiba Institute in 2016, involved a complex process including a site visit in May 2017 and the proposal of 16 witnesses, consisting of 9 local and 7 international experts.

APA

Martens, C. (2019). Reflections of the Lamu Coal Plant Case. Natural Justice. https://naturaljustice.org/reflections-of-the-lamu-coal-plant-case/

Chicago

Martens, Claire. Reflections of the Lamu Coal Plant Case. Natural Justice, 2019. https://naturaljustice.org/reflections-of-the-lamu-coal-plant-case/.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |last1=Martens |first1=Claire |title=Reflections of the Lamu Coal Plant Case |publisher=Natural Justice |date=25 July 2019 |url=https://naturaljustice.org/reflections-of-the-lamu-coal-plant-case/ |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{martens2019reflections, author = {Martens, Claire}, title = {{Reflections of the Lamu Coal Plant Case}}, institution = {Natural Justice}, year = {2019}, month = jul, url = {https://naturaljustice.org/reflections-of-the-lamu-coal-plant-case/}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }