Sunday, January 11, 2009

Facing climate change in Uganda

Monitor Online (Uganda): …In Uganda, there is no weather and climate policy, there are low levels of awareness of weather and climate issues, inadequate determination of adaptation and mitigation options to control green house gas emissions.

…Uganda is especially vulnerable, as evidenced by the impacts of current climate variability and weather extremes such as flooding. According to climate risk management and adaptation strategy – approach paper (ADB, 2008), climate changes could result in economic losses of the order of 5-20% of global GDP and in the coming few decades, 1-2% of GDP in Africa is at stake, with some sectors much more exposed than others.

...Currently, the situation in Uganda is alarming, over 90,000 hectares of Uganda’s forest cover disappear per year yet deforestation is responsible for up to 20% green house gases, a rapid rate of urbanisation and unprofessional urban planning with little eco-housing guidelines and widespread wetland degradation can account for further environmental degradation.

A recent International Climate Risk Report labels Uganda as one of the most unprepared and most vulnerable countries in the world (CIGI 2007). This could in a way impact Uganda’s ability to meet some of the internationally agreed millennium development goals….

A storm with the Tororo Rock in the background, eastern Uganda, shot by Gunnar Ries, Wikimedia Commons, under the Creative Commons Attribution ShareAlike 2.5 License

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