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Article

18 Jul 2016

Author:
Kathambi Kaaria (Creide), in Daily Nation (Kenya)

Kenya: Investors & contractors in coal mining should abide by environmental & social safeguards to avoid conflicts with locals, says columnist

"How Kenya can avoid the many negative effects of coal mining"

...[T]he 981.5MW Lamu Coal project by the Amu Power consortium is facing opposition from the community. Complaints revolve around land acquisition procedures, and delay in release of the environmental and social impact assessment (ESIA). Coal is fast becoming a dead technology in developing countries. This is primarily due to falling demand for coal as the prices of natural gas — the cleaner fossil fuel, which emits less carbon than coal — drop. Additionally, environmental policies, regulations and anti-coal campaigns are challenging fossil fuels, and driving the trend towards clean energy...

Kenya can avoid many negative impacts of coal by adopting best practices from countries that have gone before. At the project level, rigorous ESIA, transparency, and accountability are key...ESIA is exhaustive and that projects adhere to measures such as community resettlement, pollution controls, hazardous materials and waste management, water resources management, and land rehabilitation at project closure.

In the absence of this, citizens are right to worry about potential impacts of coal activities. For investors, transparency, and adherence to ESIA stipulations must not be replaced by cursory CSR activities that do not address the social, environmental and economic impacts of coal...And of course, strengthening governance to ensure that resources are well spent, and that investors and contractors abide by environmental and social safeguards.