Uganda says it needs US$ 28.1 billion to implement its revised plan against climate change that it submitted to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) in early September.
In the plan, otherwise known as the Nationally Determined Contribution (NDC), the East African country aims to raise US$4.1 billion or 15% of the NDC implementation costs locally and expects the rest from external sources.
Uganda targets a 24.7% cut in greenhouse gas emissions (GHG) by 2030, compared to 22% in its first NDC of 2015. This GHG reduction will come mostly from the Agriculture, Forestry, and Land Use (AFOLU) sector.
Water and Environment Minister Sam Cheptoris says Uganda’s NDC prioritizes adaptation to climate change. Assessments indicate that adaptation inaction could cost US$ 3.2–5.9 billion annually within a decade.
Among its priority actions to tackle climate change, Uganda aims to restore 2.5 million hectares of forest land by 2030, increase the area under planted forests fourfold to 407, 608 ha, and expand agroforestry to 1.3 million ha.
Uganda also aims to increase wetland coverage from 8.9% of its territory in 2020 to 12%, and restore 70,000 ha of wetlands by 2030. In addition, the country seeks to expand electricity supply to 75% of citizens by 2030 up from 24% in 2020 to reduce fuel wood and charcoal use.
Climate risks pose serious threats to Uganda’s key economic sectors, such as agriculture, water resources, fisheries, tourism, and health, which are sensitive to climate variability and change.
The National Risk and Vulnerability Atlas of Uganda identifies droughts, floods, landslides, windstorms, hailstorms, and lightning, as the major climate-induced hazards.