Shelmith (Shel) Kariuki
Hi! My name is Shel, and this is the story of how Karbon Kounsel came to be.
I began my career in academia while pursuing my first postgraduate degree, an MSc in Applied Statistics. I first worked as a tutor assisting my thesis supervisor with statistical programming units, then as an independent part time lecturer teaching actuarial, statistics and programming units.
I later moved away from academia to work as a data analyst in the private sector. I joined a behavioral economics firm based in Nairobi, where I got introduced to behavioral economics and its role in understanding the choices that people make. I later joined two of the largest international organisations to work as a data analytics consultant, working on various data projects in international development. I worked on a wide variety of datasets across different fields and gained a wealth of data analytics and web development skills.
At the end of 2022, I felt the need to get involved in more impactful work. While I totally enjoyed coding and analysing data, I was yearning to get foundational knowledge in a specific domain and work at the intersection of policy, technology, and development. At this point, I knew it was time to pivot.
In 2023, an opportunity to study Economics at University College Dublin (UCD) came up. Later that year, I quit my job and relocated to Dublin, Ireland 🇮🇪. I crossed my fingers and hoped the risk would be worth it eventually. Spoiler alert! It was 💃. Studying at UCD literally changed my life! As someone who truly loves studying, I thoroughly enjoyed the process. A few challenges notwithstanding, the experience was amazing. My module selection was great, but it wasn’t until I sat in the Energy Economics and Policy class that I became certain of my next career path. I learnt so much, including the dynamics of the energy transition, climate agreements, the electricity mix, electricity markets, policy instruments used to combat climate change, the role of energy efficiency in decarbonising the economy, and so much more.
In the summer of 2024, I secured an internship with an environmental economics firm based in Dublin. One of my key assignments involved reviewing and summarising Ireland’s 2024 Climate Action Plan, a document that opened my eyes to the deliberate steps that Ireland had put in place to decarbonise its economy. By the end of the summer, I was excited to dive deeper into this space.
In the fall of 2024, I embarked on a purposeful and deeply rewarding journey of self-study, diving headfirst into the knowledge and skills that would define the next chapter of my career. Being naturally curious, I wanted to grasp the fundamentals of the energy sector and climate change. My curiosity led me to the concept of sustainability and ESG, highlighting that companies must not only focus on profits but also consider their impact on the environment and society. During this period, I developed a strong foundation in carbon accounting, carbon markets, sustainability reporting frameworks and standards, double materiality, and climate risk assessment. I also spent a chunk of my time pursuing various certification courses.
However, the start of 2025 unfolded differently than expected. In January, POTUS signed an executive order directing the United States to withdraw from the Paris Agreement, initiating a year-long formal exit process. In March, the European Commission voted to introduce changes to the CSRD through the Omnibus Simplification package. These changes included raising the size threshold for mandatory reporting to companies with more than 1,000 employees (thereby removing many smaller firms from CSRD’s scope), postponing certain reporting deadlines, and simplifying reporting standards to focus on fewer, core data points. These reforms would likely slow the momentum of global climate action and weaken the regulatory pressure that had driven recent progress on climate accountability.
As a result, I felt compelled to return home to Kenya to lend my voice to climate adaptation and mitigation in Africa, one of the regions most affected by climate change despite contributing the least to it. I founded Karbon Kounsel to advance climate action and sustainability across the continent by supporting communities to build resilience, to guide companies toward meaningful actions that protect both the environment and society and to support national and county governments in factoring climate risks into economic development plans.
I currently work with a pool of consultants and am always open to expanding my network. Feel free to reach out if you’re interested in joining the team or partnering with us.