Kenya has officially launched its National Carbon Registry (KNCR), a digital infrastructure designed to centralize the country’s fragmented climate-offset market. The move, aimed at restoring investor trust and aligning with the Paris Agreement’s Article 6, comes at a precarious moment for the region’s climate-tech sector.

The registry’s unveiling follows the high-profile collapse of Koko Networks, a clean-cooking giant that shuttered its operations earlier this month. Koko’s demise, triggered by a regulatory standoff over carbon credit authorizations, has highlighted the life-or-death power the Kenyan government now wields over the sector’s financial architecture.

The “Letter of Authorization” bottleneck

For years, Kenya’s carbon market operated in a regulatory grey area. Startups generated credits under private standards like Verra or Gold Standard, often with minimal state oversight. However, under the updated Article 6 of the Paris Agreement, credits intended for international transfer now require a formal Letter of Authorization (LoA) and “corresponding adjustments” by the host government to prevent double-counting.

Koko Networks, which relied on carbon revenue to subsidize its bioethanol stoves for 1.5 million households, went into administration after the government declined to issue its LoA. Officials argued that Koko’s massive credit issuance would “mop up” too much of Kenya’s national emissions quota, leaving little room for other sectors.

The new registry, managed by the National Environment Management Authority (NEMA), is the government’s attempt to formalize this selection process. As the Designated National Authority (DNA), NEMA will now act as a mandatory clearinghouse for every carbon project in the country.

Digital “title deeds” for emissions

Environment Cabinet Secretary Deborah Barasa described the registry as the “title deed” for Kenya’s emissions reductions. By consolidating projects across forestry, renewable energy, and waste management into a single digital ledger, the state intends to:

• Eliminate double-counting: Ensuring a single metric ton of CO2 is not sold to multiple buyers.
• Enforce benefit-sharing: The 2023 Climate Change Act mandates that at least 25% to 40% of carbon earnings stay with local communities.
• Track Article 6 compliance: Providing the transparency required for “Internationally Transferred Mitigation Outcomes” (ITMOs).

To operate in Kenya now, developers must navigate a gauntlet of new costs and controls:

• The 40% Rule: Land-based projects must now remit 40% of aggregate earnings to local communities.
• The Technology Levy: Even non-land projects (like EVs or cookstoves) face a mandatory 25% social dividend.
• The $4 Per-Credit Fee: A new flat levy that adds a significant overhead to low-margin operations.

“The registry is the title deed of Kenya’s emissions reductions,” said Deborah Barasa, CS for Environment. It is also the digital gate. Without a project being mirrored on this national platform, international buyers like those in the CORSIA aviation scheme will likely view Kenyan credits as “unauthorised” and toxic.

The project was developed with technical and financial backing from Germany (GIZ) and the European Union, with Germany committing an additional €2.4m to strengthen the registry’s operational capacity.

The Bottom Line: Centralization vs. Innovation

The launch of the registry marks the end of the “Wild West” era for Kenyan carbon. For institutional investors, the clarity of a state-backed ledger is a prerequisite for large-scale capital. However, for startups, the Koko incident remains a cautionary tale of regulatory risk.

The registry offers the “predictable timelines” that developers crave, but it also places a significant administrative burden on NEMA. Whether the agency can process the 80+ concept notes currently in the pipeline without creating new bureaucratic bottlenecks will determine if Kenya becomes a global carbon hub or a cautionary tale of over-regulation.