The proposed withholding tax exemption for green bonds sailed through the Second Reading in the National Assembly in Kenya. It was my view that MPs engage more on matters within the span of their four-year term and that debates on policies with 10- or 20-year horizons were an exercise in futility.
However, something remarkable happened two years ago, when the then-Kibra MP, the late Kenneth Okoth, together with the Finance and Planning Committee chairman Joseph Limo (Kipkelion East) convened peers to confer on how, through the legislative process, Kenya can fast-track the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
Fast-forward to last week, when MPs demonstrated prescient leadership with the endorsement of a proposal to catalyse green investments. The proposed withholding tax exemption for green bonds sailed through the Second Reading in the National Assembly.
Should it be passed, the law will crowd in more than Sh500 billion worth of private sector investment and create more than 500,000 jobs. In addition, projections by Green Bonds Program-Kenya say it will help to lower carbon emissions by as much as 50 million tonnes – roughly 192,000 acres of forest preserved from deforestation.
According to an analysis by John Weyant, Ernestine Fu and Justine Bowersock in the book, Renewed Energy, government policy is vital to crowd in capital for critical sustainable investment areas such as clean energy.
Source Daily Nation