Kenya is set to host its first Carbon Neutral Festival in Africa, during this year’s Kilifi Festival.
The Festival to be held in Kilifi County is in its fourth year. Organisers of the event say the multicultural event will be a carbon-offset for the first time.
The Carbon-neutral Festival seeks to minimize emissions through comprehensive environmental efforts.
To achieve the target, the Kilifi festival is working in partnership with Finnish company Neste, which enables energy production for the event from renewable fuels, enabling the festival to reduce its total carbon footprint.
By using Neste renewable diesel to generate power, the event will be able to reduce greenhouse gas emissions of up to 90 percent compared to traditional diesel fuel.
The organisers have also partnered with Kenyan – based company, Wildlife Works in offsetting emissions by Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation project.
“Kilifi New Year offsetting its emissions with Wildlife Works contributes towards the protection of dryland forest, the conservation of Wildlife, community empowerment, and the creation of jobs in multiple sustainable industries,” said Kilifi Festival Marketing Manager Melisa Kayanda.
She said about 64 tonnes of CO2 offset will go towards Kasigau Wildlife Corridor Project.
The festival will run from December 30th to January 2nd, 2020 with over 50 artists expected to grace three stages.
“Apart from the music, the attendees will also experience multicultural, with discussions of exchanging Ideas, at the Kilifi New Year University. The University is a hub facilitating round- table discussions touching on current issues such as Climate Emergency, LGBTQ Rights, Racism, Feminism and many more,” Kayanda stated
