Green Building Push Intensifies as Government, Banks Rally Behind Climate Resilient Cities

Green Building Push Intensifies as Government, Banks Rally Behind Climate Resilient Cities

Principal Secretary Dr. Festus Ng’eno (left) alongside Kenya Green Building Society CEO Nasra Nanda, Special Envoy for Climate Change Ambassador Ali Mohammed and KCB Director of Mortgage Caroline Wanjeri Kihara during the Kenya Green Building Society Annual Conference in Nairobi, where stakeholders discussed green investment, climate resilience and sustainable development.

By Jeff Oyugi 

Nairobi - October 2, 2026

Kenya is stepping up efforts to transform its construction and property sector by promoting climate resilient buildings, sustainable infrastructure and innovative financing as rapid urbanisation and climate change increase pressure on cities and public resources.

The push brought together government officials, financial institutions, developers and built environment professionals at the Kenya Green Building Society (KGBS) Annual Conference 2026, where stakeholders called for stronger collaboration and better data to accelerate investment in sustainable development.

Principal Secretary for the State Department of Environment and Climate Change, Dr Festus Ng’eno, said the choices Kenya makes in developing its cities would determine whether rapid urban growth increases exposure to climate risks or provides an opportunity to build a more resilient and competitive economy.

He said climate change was already affecting urban areas through flooding, ecosystem degradation and damage to infrastructure, while population growth was creating growing demand for housing, commercial buildings and public facilities.

“The choices we make today will determine whether this growth increases our exposure to climate risk or becomes an opportunity to build a more resilient, efficient and competitive economy,” Dr Ng’eno said.

He urged stakeholders to address emissions across the entire building life cycle, including those generated through the production and transportation of cement, steel and other construction materials.

According to the PS, the transition to green construction must be supported by credible standards, reliable data and measurable performance rather than claims that a project or product is environmentally friendly.

He said projects should demonstrate tangible outcomes, including reduced emissions, energy and water savings, climate resilience, job creation and benefits to communities.

Dr Ng’eno also identified public procurement as an important tool for growing the market for sustainable construction products and services, arguing that the government could create predictable demand by incorporating environmental and climate performance requirements into procurement processes.

However, he cautioned that the transition must be practical and inclusive, with sufficient technical capacity, locally available products, professional skills and sustainable financing to enable businesses, particularly small and medium enterprises, to participate.

The conference also witnessed the launch of the Kenya Sustainable Built Environment Repository, an initiative by KGBS aimed at addressing fragmented information within the country's green building market.

KGBS Chief Executive Officer Nasra Nanda said Kenya had already made progress in sustainable construction but lacked a consolidated platform through which government, financiers, developers, manufacturers and researchers could access reliable information on projects, products and technologies.

She said the repository would provide information on certified green projects, non certified sustainable and resilient projects, as well as products and solutions supporting sustainable buildings and infrastructure.

Nanda stressed that listing a project or product on the platform does not amount to KGBS certification, endorsement or automatic qualification for green financing.

According to data presented during the launch, the repository contains 252 project records, including 110 certified green building projects and 142 non certified sustainable and resilient projects. It also contains 118 products and solutions.

The records indicate approximately 1.47 million tonnes of annual carbon dioxide equivalent reductions, 226.3 million kilowatt hours in documented annual energy impacts, nearly 1,396 megawatts of renewable energy capacity and about 28,767 cubic metres in annual water savings.

The database further identifies 2,305 jobs and more than 116,000 documented beneficiaries. KGBS said the projects represent approximately $2.9 billion in separately identifiable green, resilient or renewable energy component investments, based only on investment components that available evidence allows to be separately identified.

Nanda said the figures provide an initial baseline that can become more accurate as institutions contribute additional evidence.

She said KGBS was working with government agencies, financial institutions and private sector organisations to strengthen policy, technical capacity and financing for green development.

“We want to ensure that projects for Kenyans are done by Kenyans and supported by Kenyans,” Nanda said, emphasising the need to build local technical capacity alongside investment in sustainable infrastructure.

The financing question featured prominently during the conference, with KCB Bank Director of Mortgage Caroline Wanjeri Kihara saying financial institutions had a critical role in determining the pace of Kenya’s green transition.

She said rapid expansion of urban centres and growing demand for housing and infrastructure made it necessary for environmental considerations to be incorporated into projects from design and financing to operation and eventual redevelopment.

Citing United Nations Environment Programme findings, Kihara said buildings and construction account for about 37 per cent of global carbon emissions, making changes in the built environment important to the global transition towards a low carbon economy.

She said Kenya faced both a challenge and an opportunity because much of the infrastructure that would serve future generations was either being constructed now or was yet to be built.

“The decisions we make now should shape the environment to produce resilient and competitive cities for decades to come,” she said.

Kihara said KCB had increasingly incorporated sustainability considerations into its financing activities. She reported that the bank extended Sh48.8 billion in green financing and other climate smart solutions in 2025.

She said the bank had also launched a sustainability bond framework to provide a structure for mobilising and directing capital towards eligible green, blue and social priority areas.

The bank, she added, was working with partners including KGBS and the Kenya Mortgage Refinance Company to align capital, technical expertise and policy advocacy in developing climate smart housing solutions.

Kihara said KCB, which she described as Kenya’s leading mortgage provider, controlled 32.8 per cent of the mortgage market, with a mortgage book valued at about Sh100 billion.

She said the bank had expanded partnerships with developers through its developer platform while also establishing a dedicated project investment and sustainable finance unit to mobilise large scale investment for affordable housing.

The unit works with developers, real estate investment trusts, development finance institutions and other partners, she said.

Kihara also said the bank was supporting initiatives focused on building climate resilience in urban housing, aimed at developing housing models capable of withstanding environmental and economic shocks.

She said the transition would require innovative financial structures and closer cooperation between government and private investors.

“The question is no longer whether Kenya should transition towards a greener and more resilient Kenya, but how quickly and collectively we can make that transition happen,” she said.

Dr Ng’eno challenged stakeholders to identify regulatory gaps, determine the evidence required to unlock investment, identify projects ready for scaling and define the specific contribution each institution could make.

As Kenya continues to expand its urban infrastructure, stakeholders said the success of the green building agenda would depend not only on policy commitments but also on measurable evidence, accessible financing, technical capacity and the ability to translate sustainability goals into projects that benefit communities and withstand future climate pressures.