01 — Who we are
A profession organised around a living planet.
ESOK is a professional membership association and environmental leadership organisation — one institution that develops Kenya's environmental profession and puts it to work on the country's climate and nature agenda.
The mandate
Why ESOK exists
01A profession without a home
Policy was drafted in one room, practice happened in another, research in a third. Kenya's environmentalists had no register, no standards, no shared identity — and no way to grow.
02Projects without a pipeline
Excellent work stayed scattered and too small to finance. Nothing aggregated it to the scale at which climate capital transacts.
03Communities without a door
The people living inside every environmental question had no credible route to climate finance — consulted late, if at all, on their own land.
The response is one institution — a professional development platform, climate-project developer, community aggregator, environmental integrity partner and gateway to Kenya — built to close all three at once.
2002
Founded in Nairobi by 34 environmental scientists, lawyers, engineers and planners.
2005
First Annual National Environmental Summit convenes 300 delegates.
2010
County chapter programme launches in twelve counties.
2015
The ESOK Journal debuts; member research grants established.
2019
Carbon Markets Integrity Working Group convened.
2023
First aggregated landscape programme reaches financial close.
2025
Membership passes 2,400; chapters active across all 47 counties.
Mission & vision
A Kenya in which environmental stewardship is a shared national profession.
Our mission is to strengthen the environmental profession through membership, professional capacity development, knowledge exchange and leadership programmes — and to identify, develop and aggregate high-impact climate, nature and environmental projects that connect Kenyan communities and landscapes with the finance and partnerships they deserve. We serve as a professional development platform, climate-project developer, community aggregator, environmental integrity partner and gateway to Kenya.
01 PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT PLATFORM
02 CLIMATE-PROJECT DEVELOPER
03 COMMUNITY AGGREGATOR
04 INTEGRITY PARTNER
05 GATEWAY TO KENYA
What we hold to
Five values, in writing
01Integrity
We do not broker what we cannot stand behind. Every project, every tonne, every claim is one we can defend in public.
02Excellence
Professional standards, rigorous methods — and the honest admission of what we do not yet know.
03Community
Environment is lived locally. Communities are partners and principals, never beneficiaries of their own land.
04Collaboration
We convene before we compete: government, academia, civil society and the private sector at one table.
05Stewardship
We hold Kenya's natural heritage in trust for generations we will never meet.
CH
ChairpersonELECTED OFFICER
Environmental ConsultantVC
Vice-ChairpersonELECTED OFFICER
Lead EnvironmentalistHS
Hon. SecretaryELECTED OFFICER
ENVIRONMENTAL ENGINEERINGHT
Hon. TreasurerELECTED OFFICER
FINANCE & SUSTAINABILITYCEO
Chief Executive OfficerSECRETARIAT
ESOK SECRETARIATOFFICE-HOLDERS ARE NAMED IN THE ANNUAL REPORT, ISSUED TO MEMBERS
Standing committees
Professional Standards
The register, the code of conduct, CPD verification and the certification scheme.
Projects & Finance
Pipeline admission, deal structuring and portfolio reporting to Council.
Integrity
The Integrity Framework, safeguards, grievance mechanism and public claims review.
Chapters
The county and campus network, chapter charters and the annual chapter assembly.
Youth & Education
Green Careers, internships, graduate pathways and the student council.
PLATE II — THE NATIONAL NETWORK, SCHEMATICNOT TO SCALE
The next chapter of this story is written by its members.
Join the society