Uganda started the process of developing a five-year
National Development Plan (NDP) for the period 2009/10–2014/15 to replace the
Poverty Eradication Action Plan (PEAP) as a national development framework. The
theme of the NDP is “Growth, Employment and Prosperity”.
This weather, climate and climate change report aims to
inform the preparation of the NDP process and demonstrate the contribution of
the subsector to the NDP objectives.
Weather and climate data contribute to Uganda’s development
by providing decision-makers with information to make budgetary and enterprise
plans. For example, air transport needs daily weather information, and energy
development planning needs long-term weather and climate data.
It is in part through the limited capacity of the weather
and climate services of the Department of Meteorology (MWE) that we are aware
that climate change is already affecting Uganda and that some areas are more
vulnerable than others. Weather and climate services are crucial to detect the
impacts of climate change on all aspects of the Ugandan economy, and to
forecast the onset of drought or flood periods. Such data are essential for
planning strategies to avoid flood and drought occurrences from turning into
disasters that threaten food security, livelihoods, health, power supply and
infrastructure. They can also give us indications of whether and how our
valuable biodiversity will continue to thrive in the changing ecological zones
of our country.
This report aims to show policy-makers, national development
planners and implementers the importance of weather, climate and climate change
in national development, including the attainment of the Millennium Development
Goals (MDGs).
Despite the knowledge that the impacts of climate change,
aggravated by population pressure and environmental degradation, cost Uganda
billions of shillings each year, there has been little attention given to the
maintenance and improvement of the weather and climate monitoring infrastructure.
There are some barriers for implementation including limited awareness of climate
change at all levels and its devastating impacts on socio-economic development
as well as the challenges, benefits and adaptation measures to climate change.
Since 2007, however, attention to the issue of climate
change has increased. A National Adaptation Programme of Action (NAPA) and its
implementation strategy to address immediate and urgent issues of climate
change have been developed and approved by the government. Uganda is a
signatory to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC)
and acceded to the Kyoto Protocol. In addition, several greenhouse gas inventory
studies have been undertaken. Furthermore,
a Climate Change Unit has been established in the Ministry of Water and
Environment and the development of National Climate Policy is underway.
The NDP planning process provides an opportunity for
developing strategies to address the identified gaps and challenges, and to
enhance the contribution of the sub-sector to national development. In line
with the NDP theme and objectives, and the MDGs, the following priority interventions
have been identified:
Ø strengthening weather and climate change infrastructure;
Ø building and strengthening human capacity in weather and
climate change monitoring and information dissemination;
• strengthening
climate and climate change information management and early warning systems
(EWS) to increase productivity of climate and climate change-sensitive sectors and
communities;
• strengthening
the establishment and implementation of regulations for climate and climate
change, natural resources and climate-sensitive sectors;
• promoting
the engagement of young people and rural households in climate change mitigation
and adaptation;
• promoting
investments (public-private partnerships) and value addition to climate change
mitigation and adaptation in order to improve rural and urban livelihoods;
• promoting
the development of commodity value chains for strategic natural resources and
natural products;
• exploring
and developing climate opportunities as a traded commodity and as a global
public good
When these priority interventions are sufficiently budgeted
for and implemented under the new NDP, Uganda will be less vulnerable in the
long term to the negative impacts of extreme climatic events, and the sub-sector
will make even more substantial contributions to growth, employment and
prosperity. I therefore urge Parliament, all central and local government agencies,
civil society organizations, the private sector, communities, individuals and development
partners to support the implementation of these priority interventions.
Dr.
Aryamanya - Mugisha, Henry (PhD)
Executive
Director
National Environment Management Authority (NEMA)
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