Projects

Our activities in Kenya are part of the Global Project Sustainable Economic Transformation and Sustainable Finance and the Global Project Sustainable Agricultural Systems and Policies.

Acknowledging the growing risks and opportunities associated with sustainability, Kenya has taken significant steps to integrate sustainability considerations into its financial system. These efforts span the development of a sustainable finance taxonomy and the strengthening of sustainability-related disclosure and risk management frameworks. In 2024, the Institute of Certified Public Accountants of Kenya (ICPAK) issued a national roadmap for the adoption of the IFRS Sustainability Disclosure Standards, IFRS S1 and IFRS S2, outlining a pathway towards their mandatory implementation. Complementing this process, the Central Bank of Kenya has issued a climate disclosure framework for banks, while the Kenya Bankers Association has developed an IFRS S1 and S2 reporting template for the banking sector to facilitate implementation and alignment with other regulatory and reporting requirements, including Basel III.

Taken together, these measures are helping to embed sustainability considerations more systematically into financial sector decision-making, while supporting Kenya’s wider climate, biodiversity and sustainable development commitments.

Attention is increasingly extending beyond climate-related risks to the financial implications of nature loss and ecosystem degradation. Kenyan banks are particularly exposed through their lending and investment activities in nature-dependent sectors, including agriculture, real estate, and manufacturing (see Nature’s Bottom Line: The Economic and Financial Costs of Ecosystem Degradation in Kenya. Dependencies and impacts on ecosystem services can translate into material financial risks through changes in credit quality, asset values and operational resilience, with potential implications for financial stability at the systemic level.

To help financial and non-financial corporates incorporate nature into their business strategies, the Taskforce on Nature-related Financial Disclosures (TNFD) published a guidance for nature transition plans in November 2025. Together with the Kenya Bankers Association, the co-convenor for TNFD in Kenya, GIZ will help Kenyan banks develop their own nature transition plans.

• Conducting a LEAP assessment for Kenyan banks
• Targeted training sessions for bank staff on the relevance of nature and ecosystem services, TNFD, the LEAP approach, and nature transition plans
• Co-development of nature transition plans together with Kenyan banks