Environment Ministry withdraws 2025 regulations amid outcry over lack of consultation

The Ministry of Environment, Climate Change and Forestry has officially pulled back the 2025 Environmental Management and Coordination Regulations, following strong opposition from the Senate and industry stakeholders over inadequate consultation.

Appearing before the Senate Committee on Delegated Legislation on Monday, Principal Secretary Festus Ng’eno said the Ministry had opted to withdraw Legal Notice No. 71 to create room for broader stakeholder engagement.

“We have resolved to withdraw the Legal Notice No. 71 of 2025 after we realised that we were heading nowhere. We have done that to allow more consultations and involvement of all the stakeholders,” Ng’eno told the Committee.

He noted that the Senate Clerk had already been notified and that a formal notice would be sent to the National Assembly the following day.

In a letter presented to the Committee, the Ministry stated, “The Ministry wishes to have the Legal Notice withdrawn from the legislative process to facilitate further public consultation processes, being the outcome of further stakeholder deliberations. We endeavour to table the Statutory Instrument before the House at the appropriate time.”

The withdrawal followed a directive from the Committee, chaired by Senator Mwenda Gataya, instructing Environment Cabinet Secretary Deborah Barasa to reconsider the proposed rules amid widespread concern or face annulment.

“We, as a Committee, have a straightforward mandate. After thorough scrutiny of these Regulations, we must either annul them or allow them, there is no third option,” said Senator Gataya.

Earlier, the Environment Institute of Kenya had petitioned Parliament to halt the process, arguing that the 2025 regulations failed to meet legal standards under the Statutory Instruments Act and fell short on public participation.

The Institute urged for their suspension and called for an open hearing to allow professionals and other parties to contribute to the reforms.

Senators present, among them Mohamed Faki (Mombasa), Betty Montet, Daniel Maanzo (Makueni), and Issa Musa Boy (Kwale), supported the withdrawal but warned the Ministry against a repeat of the same mistake.

They called for the immediate gazetting of the withdrawal and a legally sound process going forward.

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