Most additive and extractive industrial pursuits, that are often
the go-to solution for most government development agenda, are the same
ones that also carry a huge negative environmental effect.
While
these still dominate the leading portfolios in terms of revenue and
return in the market, the move towards smarter ways of work and living,
riding on the back of advanced technology are starting to change the
shape of business.
Unfortunately the track that many
of these new businesses are subscribed to, is social enterprise, which
is limiting in many ways as the purveyors of this flavour of capital
often dictate overall direction.
The challenge comes
when looking to raise money at a for-profit organistaion that wants to
do good while doing well with a model that will see returns in the mid
to long term. Raising funds from traditional capital shops becomes
difficult as first; they may have a much shorter time to exit
expectation and second; the ticket sizes may be slightly out of reach,
unless syndicated.
It is therefore welcome that as a
country we are starting to lay the groundwork for a domestic green bond
market. As succinctly captured in the first draft of the Kenya Green
Bond Guidelines, “green bonds are regular bonds with one distinguishing
feature that proceeds are earmarked exclusively for projects with
environmental benefits, mostly related to climate change mitigation or
adaptation but also to natural resources depletion, loss of
bio-diversity, and air, water or soil pollution.”
As a
country we signed on to some bold environmental impact deliverables at
the 21st annual Conference of the Parties (COP 21) in Paris, France
under our Intended Nationally Determined Contributions, loosely
translated as our “in-house targets”. We have set out to lower
greenhouse gas emissions by 30 per cent by 2030 with agriculture, urban
development, energy production and transport as our biggest
contributors.
A cursory look at the innovation
ecosystem will reveal that many technology entrepreneurs are building
businesses in these verticals, that not only carry the value that end
users are seeking but also mitigating or reversing our negative effects
on the climate.
We know what needs to be done and must
fire on all cylinders to deliver on the frameworks, tangible rebates,
exemptions and trading platforms that will encourage the discovery,
application and deployment at sufficient scale of technology that
reduces or at the very least nets off our carbon footprint while turning
profit.
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