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The Government of Uganda has developed a climate change policy (2015) geared towards addressing the consequences of climate change and their causes through appropriate measures while promoting sustainable development and a green economy. The country is currently formulating the Ugandan Climate Change Law, which is expected to govern climate change policy and regulate the implementation of Uganda’s mitigation and adaptation strategies.

Uganda submitted its Nationally Determined Contribution (NDC) to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) in 2015. Through this NDC, Uganda hopes to reduce emissions from its business-as-usual (BAU) scenarios by 22% by 2030 via a series of policies and measures to mitigate and adapt to climate change. This will cost approximately USD 7.80 billion (World Bank, 2016). Mitigation efforts have focused on the energy supply, forestry and wetland sectors. The BAU scenario estimates an output of 77.3 million tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent per year (MtCO2eq/yr) by 2030. The main priority for the adaptation measures will be the agricultural sector.

To kickstart the implementation of its NDC, Uganda is currently developing a Partnership Plan as part of the NDC Partnership’s In-Country Engagement. Together with the Ministry of Water and Environment, the Ministry of Finance, Planning and Economic Development, and the National Planning Authority, the NDC Partnership will further elaborate on the 11 priority areas of support that were identified by the country.

These priority areas include strengthening government institutions to support NDC implementation through capacity development, providing support in devising bankable project proposals, developing and implementing a robust Monitoring, Reporting and Verification framework and greenhouse gas inventory systems, and identifying financing for NDC implementation. Throughout the planning process, various stakeholders were brought together including government experts from relevant ministries and authorities, private-sector actors and other development partners.

More information on the NDC Partnership’s cooperation with Uganda can be found at http://ndcpartnership.org/country-engagement.

Through the GIZ Promotion of Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency Program (PREEEP), the German Government is assisting Uganda’s Ministry of Energy and Mineral Development in the following ways: enhancing sector planning and monitoring and evaluation capacities; supporting climate-smart energy planning at sub-national levels; assessing energy efficiency for large energy consumers; and supporting renewable mini-grids run by the private sector in rural communities. Pending approval from the Ugandan and German Governments, GIZ is also seeking to develop financing tools to enhance energy efficiency in Uganda’s small-scale industry and to secure Green Climate Fund (GCF) accreditation for the Ministry of Water and Environment.

With support from the German Ministry for the Environment (BMUB), the GIZ Global Carbon Markets programme in Uganda aims to support the development of economic and carbon-pricing instruments that will support NDC implementation among the countries of East Africa.