Section on coal in Kenya’s NDC submission to UNFCCC (Dec. 2020)

“The country also has significant oil reserves and about 400 million tons of coal reserves which are yet to be exploited. Coal mining, in particular open pit mining as planned for Mui basin, could have strong environmental and social impacts in future. Due to its production experience in many countries as well as relatively low costs, coal is also an important fuel option for electricity expansion planning for Kenya, but the negative environmental impacts must be factored in. There have been proposals to build two coal power plant in Kenya, one of which would be based on local coal while the other would use imported coal. However, the use of coal is accompanied by strong environmental impacts, such as high emissions of sulphur dioxide, heavy metals and harmful greenhouse gases. The country is therefore faced with choosing between the exploitation of her fossil fuel resources to realise her development objectives and foregoing their exploitation for environmental reasons. To forego all the benefits of exploiting the fossil fuel resources, Kenya will need significant international support.”