Kenya has officially launched the Kenya National Carbon Registry (KNCR) in February 2026 – a digital platform that will be managed by the National Environment Management Authority (NEMA), and it serves as a centralized ledger to track, verify, and manage carbon credits and Internationally Transferred Mitigation Outcomes (ITMOs). The KNCR is designed to bring order, transparency, and international credibility to a rapidly evolving carbon credits market.
The launch of the registry comes at a time when carbon companies in Kenya are navigating both massive growth and significant regulatory hurdles. In late January 2026, the clean-energy firm KOKO Networks abruptly shut down, resulting in 700 layoffs and leaving 1.5 million households at risk of returning to charcoal use. The company’s downfall was attributed to a dispute over a Letter of Authorization (LOA) without the government approval required under Article 6 of the Paris Agreement, KOKO could not sell its credits in high-value international markets.
KNCR to Align Kenya with Paris Agreement
For project developers and investors, the KNCR will be an important shift in how business is conducted. The registry is intended to prevent the regulatory hurdles that crippled KOKO Networks. By serving as the official system for authorizing carbon projects, the KNCR aligns Kenya with Article 6 of the Paris Agreement, enabling companies to credibly sell credits internationally without the risk of double counting.
The registry aims to provide a public facing layer of accountability and verification, giving investors evidence that the pollution removed or prevented is credible. And a way to ensure emission reduction is real. The digital sovereignty over climate data will allow Kenya to oversee the market in line with national priorities rather than relying on fragmented or external systems.
Under the Climate Change (Carbon Markets) Regulations 2024, companies are reminded of their social contribution obligations. Land-based projects must direct 40% of their yearly profits to community benefits, while non-land-based projects must allocate 25%. The registry will track these contributions, ensuring that fairness, integrity and transparency are maintained.
The rollout will happen in phases, starting with onboarding project developers and training stakeholders. Companies will need to move toward rigorous digital reporting, as the registry functions as the digital backbone for recording transfers and issuances of carbon credit within the national system.
As Environment Principal Secretary Festus Ng’eno noted, the KNCR will be a cornerstone in Kenya’s climate framework. In addition to this civil society groups continue to emphasize that strong oversight is critical to ensure that local communities reap the rewards of this burgeoning market. We can see that the carbon credit market is becoming more structured, more transparent, and more deeply integrated into the national economy.
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