Uganda

Before joining the Climate and Clean Air Coalition (CCAC) in 2021, Uganda worked with the CCAC on projects to reduce short-lived climate pollutants (SLCPs) through national planning and activities including the development of National Air Quality Regulations and Standards and the inclusion of SLCP management co-benefits in its updated Nationally Determined Contribution (NDC). Uganda is represented by its Ministry of Water and Environment, which serves as the national focal point for the United National Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) and coordinates the integration of climate actions into domestic sector policies, plans, and projects.

Located in East Africa, Uganda is a Least Developed Country (LDC) with a population of approximately 48 million people. It has a predominantly tropical climate and is particularly vulnerable to extreme weather events. This includes erratic and unreliable rainfall as a result of climate change which causes floods and droughts. Decreased and increasingly variable rainfall impacts water availability, agricultural productivity, and lake levels. This has consequences for the food, energy, and socioeconomic security of Ugandans. Increasing temperatures are also a concern, with average temperatures in the country already between 25°C and 29°C.

Uganda is party to the UNFCCC, party to the 2015 Paris Agreement, and ratified the Kigali Amendment to Montreal Protocol on substances that deplete the ozone layer. It updated its Nationally Determined Contribution (NDC) to the Paris Agreement in 2022. The 2022 NDC includes a section on the co-benefits of NDC implementation for short-lived climate pollutant (SLCP) mitigation and expresses its intention to improve national planning processes on mitigating SLCPs. This includes working with the CCAC’s Supporting National Action & Planning (SNAP) initiative to produce a national emission inventory of SLCPs including black carbon, methane, and hydrofluorocarbons.

According to the 2022 NDC, the country’s greenhouse gas emissions have slowly increased from 53.4 MtCO2e in 2005 to 90.1 MtCO2e in 2015. Land use change and forestry category was dominant, accounted for 59.5% (53.6 MtCO2e) of  total emissions. Agriculture is the second largest source, contributing 26.9%, followed by energy (10.7%) and waste (2.3%). The industrial processes and product use (IPPU) sector accounted for the least emissions. In addition, relative contribution of anthropogenic gases to the greenhouse effect is as follows:  CO₂: 75%; CH₄: 13%; and, NO₂: 12%.

The NDC is supported by other climate and development policies, plans, and strategies including the Long-Term Low Emissions Development Strategy (LTS), Strategic Program for Climate Resilience, 2017; Uganda NDC Partnership Plan, 2018; the National REDD+ Strategy, and Action Plan, 2017; National Biodiversity Strategy and Action Plan II 2015 -2025; Uganda Sustainable Land Management Strategic Investment Framework (2010-2020); the Climate Smart Agriculture Program (2015 – 2025); the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework (KMGBF), 2022. In 2022, the Government of Uganda also developed a 10-year Environment Restoration Plan and declared the following ten years as a “war decade” for the restoration of the degraded environment.

The Government of Uganda has also identified energy efficiency programs and clean cooking, as well as transport fuel efficiency programmes and e-mobility as priorities between 2024-2027. These priorities will be backed by a climate change implementation manual for Ministry of Works and Transport; 
regulations to improve national vehicle fleet database, frameworks, and fuel standards; and regulations on clean cooking to provide legal framework for the attainment of the target of 100% coverage by 2040. In addition, the Government of Uganda developed a new national energy policy in 2023 to promote renewable energy, energy efficiency, 100% access to clean and efficient energy by 2030.

 

Uganda Vision 2040 is a national development blueprint which recognises that climate change affects all sectors of the economy, the environment and society. It provides for the integration of climate change governance into development planning and aims to transform Uganda from a predominantly low-income country to a competitive upper middle-income country. The country has so far developed three consecutive National Development Plans (NDP) to implement Vision 2040.

The National Development Plan III (NDP) of 2020/21 - 2024/25 sets the goal of increasing household incomes and improving Ugandan quality of life under the theme of “sustainable industrialisation for inclusive growth, employment, and sustainable wealth creation.” The plan identifies agriculture, tourism, minerals, oil and gas, and knowledge as key growth opportunities. This is the third NDP in a series of six which will guide the delivery of aspirations articulated in Uganda Vision 2040. The Government has now embarked on the formulation of the 4^th NDP (NDP IV).

The Government of Uganda, through Ministry of Energy has developed national energy transition plan that takes care just transition across sectors with the focus on environmental sustainability, climate risk-reduction, sustainable management of oil and gas, and economic development for society wellbeing 

Furthermore, the Government of Uganda has developed National Integrated Transport Master Plan (2021-2040) that, among others, focuses on environmental sustainability and GHG emission reduction through low emission transport infrastructure and technologies.

The Uganda Green Growth Development Strategy (UGGDS) 2017/28-2030/31 seeks to operationalise the tenets of a green economy as espoused in the Uganda Vision 2040 and the National Development Plan over a timeline of 15 years. The UGGDS was developed by the National Planning Authority in partnership with the Climate Change Department of the Ministry of Water and Environment. It received technical inputs from other ministries and agencies and financial support from the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP). The Government of Uganda has also partnered with the Global Green Growth Institute (GGGI) to develop an implementation roadmap/action plan.

The 2015 National Climate Change Policy was developed to guide Uganda towards Vision 2040 and move towards low-carbon development. It aims to ensure that climate change causes and impacts are appropriately addressed while promoting sustainable development and a green economy. It highlights the importance of adaptation as a priority for Uganda given the country’s vulnerability to impacts and its low relative contribution to global greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions.

Enacted in 2021, the National Climate Change Act gives force of law to the UNFCCC, the Kyoto Protocol, and the Paris Agreement. It provides for mechanisms including compliance, emissions trading mechanisms, as well as measurement of GHG emissions reductions and removal. The Act provides for 12 national reference “levels”. This includes the national base year and targets for the reduction of GHG emissions, which are to be prescribed by the Minister responsible for climate change in consultation with the policy committee. It also provides for climate change financing as well as incentives for those involved in implementing response measures for climate change adaptation and mitigation.

In collaboration with other ministries and agencies and contributory support from CCAC, Uganda developed National Air Quality Regulations and Standards to establish national ambient air quality standards and comprehensive air pollution mitigation programs. This builds upon the 2019 National Environmental Act (NEA).

CCAC projects

Other Activities

Agriculture and forestry 

• The 2018 National Adaptation Plan for Agriculture (NAP-Ag) aims to increase resilience of the Agricultural Sector to the impacts of climate change through coordinated interventions which will enhance sustainable agriculture, food and nutritional security, livelihood improvement, and sustainable development. It contributed to the second National Develop Plan’s (NDP II) priority of strengthening ecologically sound agricultural research and climate change resilient technologies and practices.
• 2017 Forest Investment Plan is a national, cross-sectoral policy document which aims to ensure low carbon and climate resilient development in land use. Its core objectives are to reduce GHG emissions from deforestation and forest degradation, enhance forest carbon stocks and strengthen forestry governance. Co-benefit objectives are to (i) reduce poverty through improved quality of life of forest de-pendent indigenous peoples and local communities, (ii) reduce biodiversity loss and increase resilience of forest ecosystems to climate variability and change, and (iii) improve governance of forestry resources.

Waste

• The National Environment (Waste management) Regulations, 2020 outlines roles and responsibilities for the generation, collection, storage, treatment, disposal, and transboundary movement of waste. It regulates waste management and responsibility, including outlining procedures for the attainment of appropriate licenses.

Transport

• In 2022, the East African Community (EAC) published a gazette notice announcing the first edition of EAS 1047:2022 standards on Air Quality – Vehicular exhaust emission limits. These standards adopt Euro 4/IV equivalent vehicle emission standards which all countries in the sub-region must implement.
• The 2018 Biofuels Act regulates production, storage and transportation of biofuels and blending of biofuels with petroleum products.
• The EAC transitioned to low sulphur fuels in 2015, implementing standards (EAS 158: Automotive gasoline and EAS 177: Automotive diesel) allowing a maximum sulphur content of 50 ppm in diesel and 150 ppm in gasoline.

Energy

• The Government of Uganda has embarked on the development of a national energy transition plan to address current and emerging energy, climate change, and environmental issues faced by the country.
• The Government of Uganda is in an advanced stage in the review of the 2002 National Energy Policy to address new and emerging issues related to energy production, supply and use (access/affordability, security, reliability, efficiency and sustainability); climate change; and environmental sustainability.
• The National Electrification Strategy (NES) of 2021 aimed to assist the Ugandan Ministry of Energy in establishing a diagnosis of the institutional framework governing the electricity sector. It had an objective of universal electricity access, aiming to contribute to the development of an electrification plan which would connect 10 million households by 2030.
• The 2007-2017 Renewable Energy Policy is the framework for Uganda’s approach to renewable energy. The Policy established a Standardized Power Purchase Agreement and Feed-in Tariffs for renewable energy generation projects. It also introduced financial and fiscal incentives for renewable energy technologies.
• 1999 Electricity Act regulates the generation, transmission, distribution, sale, export, import and distribution of electrical energy in Uganda.

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