Comprehensive and transparent public participation during Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) processes for renewable energy projects is vital in identifying, addressing and mitigating potential environmental risks associated with such renewable energy projects. Public participation during EIA is a vital platform where all stakeholders of a given renewable energy project contribute to addressing the environmental concerns of renewable energy projects, thereby contributing positively to informed environmental decisions that mitigate negative environmental impacts. This paper presents a comparative analysis of public participation practice during an EIA process in Kenya's renewable energy sub-sector vis-à-vis the international best practice operating principles. Further, the paper presents insights on the substantive contribution of public participation in environmental risk management based on questionnaire survey responses from EIA Practitioners and other stakeholders in Kenya's renewable energy sub-sector. Results show that public participation practice during EIA in Kenya loosely adheres to the international best practice operating principles. An analysis of stakeholder responses shows that public participation during EIA processes in the renewable energy sub-sector seldom supports decisions that result in environmental protection. Factors that contribute to Kenya's poor adherence to international best practice operating principles are discussed. Suggestions and recommendations on how to achieve a substantive contribution of public participation during EIA in Kenya's renewable energy projects in order to contribute to environmental risk management are presented.

Environmental and Social Impact Assessment (ESIA) is a tool for an integrated assessment of multifaceted impacts of a proposed project. ESIA can identify areas of potential conflicts and prevent conflicts from occurring early through appropriate mitigation measures. This notwithstanding, conflicts and public opposition arising from implementation of proposed projects which have been subjected to ESIA have been observed in various sectors in different countries and jurisdictions. Kenya is one of the African countries endowed with substantial renewable energy resources including geothermal, wind and solar energy resources. The country is now scaling up the development and utilization of these resources to meet growing energy demand. However, implementation of environmental procedures mainstreamed in the development of renewable energy resources, if inappropriately applied, has the potential to slow down development and exploitation trajectory of these resources. While all proposed renewable energy projects are subjected to the ESIA process, in some instances challenges have emerged at implementation resulting in conflicts that could be avoided. There is a clear need to understand, empirically, which of the ESIA procedural steps is critical in underpinning conflict identification for appropriate application. To determine how each of the ESIA procedural steps is likely to influence conflict identification, a statistical analysis was carried out for ESIA procedures based on questionnaire survey responses from sampled ESIA practitioners in Kenya. This article presents findings on the effect of ESIA procedural steps in conflict identification using cumulative odds ordinal logistic regression with proportional odds. Results show that the overall effect (on the dependent variable conflict identification) of the variables, public participation and monitoring is statically significant, χ 2 (2) = 9.12, p = 0.01 and χ 2 (2) = 6.29, p = 0.04, respectively. Further, the exponential of the log odds of the slope coefficients indicate that the independent variables public participation, decision making, project implementation and monitoring are statistically significant [χ 2 (1) = 9.12, p = 0.00; χ 2 (1) = 4.04, p = 0.04; χ 2 (1) = 3.64, p = 0.05 and χ 2 (1) = 3.31, p = 0.00, respectively]. That is to say these independent variables have a statistically significant effect on the dependent variable conflict identification.

Environmental and Social Impact Statement (ESIS) for a proposed development is vital in guiding decision makers arrive at an informed decision. Many studies have analysed ESIS quality using qualitative methods with limited statistical analysis. In this paper, we present findings of a statistical analysis of qualitative data of ESIS using Somers' delta test (Somers'd). we report on how public participation and analysis of alternatives influence the quality of ESIS. Results show that there is a strong and positive correlation between the quality of ESIS and public participation and also between the quality of ESIS and the analysis of alternatives, which is statistically significant, p < 0.0005, Somers' d = 0.676 and p < 0.0005, Somers' d = 0.682, respectively.

The study evaluated compliance with environmental and social safeguards during the implementation of Lamu Port and associated road infrastructure projects implemented under LAPSSET in Lamu County. The study employed a mixed-method approach in collecting primary and secondary data. This comprised of key informant interviews, focused group discussions, and field observations for primary data and document analysis of; i) the LAPSSET Corridor Feasibility Study report, ii) Strategic Environmental Assessment (SEA) report, and iii) the Environmental and Social Impact Assessment (ESIA) Reports for Lamu Port and associated infrastructure, ESIA’s of Lamu Port access road and Garsen-Witu-Lamu Highway. Descriptive statistics and geospatial analysis were used to synthesise and interpret the data collected. Results show that the project safeguards meant to deter alteration of marine water quality, pollution of marine flora and fauna, protection of livelihoods of the fishing community, preservation of tangible and intangible heritage were not implemented. The study further established that compensation of project-affected persons pre-determined as exposed to effects of the project like landowners for loss of arable land was done while loss of grazing fields and watering grounds for pastoralists were not compensated. Overall, the location of the chosen borrow pit sites for the extraction of construction materials was inappropriate with about 25% of the borrow pits being in close proximity to homesteads. Rehabilitation of borrow pits was minimal; less than 10% of disused borrow pits had been rehabilitated. Inadequate budget and lack of enforcement by government agencies were cited as the main cause of poor compliance.

Evaluation of the quality of Environmental and Social Impact Statements (ESISs) for proposed development action is vital in ascertaining their fitness in informing critical decisions on a proposed development action. In this paper, we present findings of an evaluation of the quality of fifteen (15) ESISs for the geothermal energy resource projects in Kenya in the period 1994-2019. The review which was based on the Lee and Colley Review Package (LCRP), involved a systematic evaluation of how well a number of assessment tasks were performed in four (4) review areas, 13 categories and 40 subcategories. Starting from the lowest level and moving systematically up the hierarchy, the review involved evaluating how well a number of assessment tasks were performed. The quality of each review subcategory within a particular category was assessed. The subcategory assessment results and the relevant impression gained from the ESIS were then used to assess the review category. The result of the assessment of the review category was used to assess each review area of the ESIS. The overall quality of the ESIS was derived from the outcome of the assessment of each of the review areas by considering the main strengths and weaknesses. Results showed seven percent (7%) of the ESISs were of excellent quality, 20% were good, 53% were acceptable, and 13% were of poor quality. Six percent (6%) were of excellent quality in three (3) review areas of identification & evaluation of key impacts, presentation of impact statement and description of the development and baseline conditions. Eighty percent (80%) were of good quality in the review area of the description of the development and baseline conditions, while 60% were of good quality in the review area of the presentation of the impact statement. Six per cent (6%) were of very poor quality in the review area of the environmental and social management plan and follow-up. Inadequacies and gaps identified in subcategories that constitute consultation and public participation, impact identification and analysis of alternatives, and environmental and social management plans can be addressed by target training of Impact Assessment Practitioners (IAPs) and strengthening of legislation on public participation. This will contribute to improving the quality of future ESISs while supporting better-informed environmental and social decisions regarding proposed development actions