judgment

Menengai West Stakeholders Forum, and Solomon Manyarkir and 1 Other v National Environment Management Authority and Sosian Energy Ltd - judgment

Litigation

Sabin

Filing Year For Action

The Plaintiffs challenged a decision by the National Environment Tribunal (NET), that upheld the decision of the National Environment Management Authority (NEMA) in granting the 2nd Respondent Sosian Energy Limited (SEL) an Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) license to operate a geothermal energy project. The EIA license was contested on among other grounds that there was inadequate public participation. Regarding climate change, the decision of the NET was challenged for requiring the 2nd respondent to conduct a climate change impact assessment without making it a precondition for commencing any project activity.

The court determined that climate impact assessment serves as a mechanism to inform policy development and decision-making, ensuring that actions are in accordance with obligations pertaining to climate change by identifying potential impacts and risks linked to climate change as well as proposed projects or policies. It emphasized that, climate impact assessments are essential for comprehending the potential ramifications of climate change and for formulating effective adaptation and mitigation strategies. Consequently, they ought to be conducted prior to the initiation of a proposed project, during which scoping, stakeholder engagement, risk assessment, and impact analysis are taken into account. 

The appeals court found that the tribunal erred in law and in fact in finding that there was proper public participation and erred in not requiring a climate impact assessment. 