Environment Ministry Withdraws 2025 Pollution Rules Amid Industry and Civil Society Backlash

Nairobi, Kenya – August 6, 2025

Kenya’s Ministry of Environment has formally withdrawn the proposed Environmental Management and Coordination (Air Quality) Regulations, 2025, following a storm of opposition from manufacturers, environmental groups, and legal experts who warned that the new rules were both impractical and legally problematic.

The withdrawal, announced by Environment Principal Secretary Festus Ng’eno, comes just weeks after the draft rules were published for public comment. PS Ng’eno confirmed that the ministry would “return to the drawing board” to allow for more comprehensive stakeholder engagement.

Concerns Over Overreach and Cost

The proposed regulations aimed to tighten air pollution controls across Kenya’s industrial, urban, and transport sectors, including mandatory real-time emissions monitoring, stricter licensing requirements for factories and power plants, and new penalties for non-compliance.

However, major industry players, including the Kenya Association of Manufacturers (KAM), argued that the draft regulations went far beyond the scope of the parent law — the Environmental Management and Coordination Act (EMCA) — and would impose unsustainable costs on businesses already grappling with high energy and tax burdens.

Civil society organisations also criticized the lack of clarity on implementation, accusing the ministry of attempting to roll out far-reaching changes without sufficient scientific data, public participation, or environmental impact assessments.

Legal Experts Warned of Unconstitutionality

Environmental law specialists flagged key provisions of the draft as potentially unconstitutional, citing ambiguous definitions, duplicative mandates with county governments, and provisions that could expose the state to legal challenges.

“The regulations, as drafted, risked being nullified by the courts for procedural and substantive violations,” said an environmental policy analyst at the Institute for Law and Environmental Governance (ILEG). “Withdrawing them is not just a policy decision — it’s a legal necessity.”

A Pause, Not an Abandonment

While the ministry has formally rescinded the 2025 draft, officials emphasized that Kenya remains committed to improving air quality standards, especially in Nairobi and other urban centers plagued by increasing respiratory illnesses and vehicular emissions.

PS Ng’eno noted that the ministry will convene a multi-sectoral task force to redraft the regulations, ensuring alignment with the Constitution, the EMCA Act, and Kenya’s Vision 2030 environmental goals.

“We are not abandoning air quality reforms. We are simply taking time to do it right — with the science, the law, and the people in mind,” he said.

What’s Next

The ministry is expected to publish a new roadmap for stakeholder engagement later this month, with a revised version of the regulations to be tabled before Parliament in early 2026.

In the meantime, Kenya’s 2006 Air Quality Regulations — widely seen as outdated and poorly enforced — remain in place.