comments-on-the-national-petroleum-policy-1_kenya-85ffde1335b40783.pdf

Natural Justice provides comments on the draft National Petroleum Policy 2026, arguing that its objective to promote petroleum exploration and production contradicts Kenya's goals for a just energy transition and decarbonization. The organization urges the government to prioritize renewable energy alternatives and phase out fossil fuels rather than integrating oil and gas into the economy.

• Natural Justice asserts that the draft petroleum policy's goal to promote petroleum resource exploration, development, and production undermines the strategic objective of a just energy transition. They identify four primary risks: the diversion of resources from renewable energy (slowing the transition), the likelihood of stranded assets, increased environmental and public health costs due to weak safeguards, and a rise in litigation based on environmental and human rights grounds.
• The document identifies three critical omissions in the draft policy: the lack of best resettlement practices (referencing the September 2024 Resettlement Policy Framework of the World Bank-funded Kenya Off-Grid Solar Access Project), the absence of required Community Development Agreements (CDAs) as mandated by the Mining Act and Climate Change Act, and the failure to mention the host community's right to 5% of the national government's share of upstream petroleum profits under the Petroleum Act.
• Natural Justice criticizes the draft policy for lacking meaningful measures for environmental protection and biodiversity conservation. They propose that the principle of free, prior and informed consent (FPIC) be a pre-condition for fossil fuel development, particularly because resource blocks are located in areas of economic and cultural significance to indigenous and local communities.
• The organization argues that the draft policy's proposal to integrate oil and gas into the economy contradicts the Energy Transition Investment Plan and the draft National Energy Policy. They suggest replacing the integration goal with a framework for decarbonization and the substitution of oil and gas with renewable energy.
• Regarding local content, Natural Justice notes that the draft policy fails to acknowledge existing provisions in the Petroleum Act. They propose that the government focus on implementing these existing provisions and adopting the Local Content Bill 2023 and its regulations rather than developing a new framework.

APA

Natural Justice (n.d.). comments-on-the-national-petroleum-policy-1_kenya-85ffde1335b40783.pdf. https://naturaljustice.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/07/Comments-on-the-National-Petroleum-Policy-1_Kenya.pdf

Chicago

Natural Justice. comments-on-the-national-petroleum-policy-1_kenya-85ffde1335b40783.pdf. n.d. https://naturaljustice.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/07/Comments-on-the-National-Petroleum-Policy-1_Kenya.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite press release |author=Natural Justice |title=comments-on-the-national-petroleum-policy-1_kenya-85ffde1335b40783.pdf |url=https://naturaljustice.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/07/Comments-on-the-National-Petroleum-Policy-1_Kenya.pdf |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@misc{naturaljusticendcommentsonthenationalpetroleumpolicy1kenya85ffde1335b40783pdf, author = {{Natural Justice}}, title = {{comments-on-the-national-petroleum-policy-1\_kenya-85ffde1335b40783.pdf}}, publisher = {Natural Justice}, url = {https://naturaljustice.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/07/Comments-on-the-National-Petroleum-Policy-1_Kenya.pdf}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }