Save Lamu et al. v. National Environmental Management Authority and Amu Power Co. Ltd.

Kenya’s National Environmental Tribunal (“the Tribunal”) set aside the issuance of a license by the National Environmental Management Authority (NEMA) to Amu Power Company for the construction of the Lamu Coal-fired Power Plant (“Lamu Plant”). The Lamu Plant would be the first coal-fired power plant in Kenya. The Tribunal found that the National Environmental Management Authority violated the Environmental Impact Assessment & Audit Regulations (“EIA Regulations”) by granting an Environmental Impact Assessment License without proper and meaningful public participation in the process. Additionally, the Tribunal found that the Amu Power Company’s Environmental & Social Impact Assessment was incomplete and scientifically insufficient in violation of the regulations. Applying the precautionary principle, the Tribunal found one of the insufficiencies of the assessment was the inadequate consideration of climate change and the Climate Change Act of 2016. The Tribunal ordered the Amu Power Company, if it should choose to pursue the project, to conduct a new EIA study in compliance with the EIA Regulations. The Tribunal further instructed the Amu Power Company that the new EIA study must include “all approved and legible detailed architectural and engineering plans for the plant and its ancillary facilities (such as the coal storage and handling facility and the ash pit with its location in relation to the sea shore), consideration of the Climate Change Act 2016, the Energy Act 2019 and the Natural Resources (Classes of Transactions subject to Ratification) Act 2016 in so far as the project will utilise sea water for the plant and/ or if applicable.” The Amu Power Company appealed to the Land and Environment Court in June 2019. In March 2025, the court proceeded with hearings with an expected decision in September 2025.