KAS

At the national level, the momentum for climate is building amongst some private sector actors however, efforts are still thin, scattered, and largely unknown. There is a need for the private sector to be more engaged in identifying climate change risks, their response measures including mitigation and adaptation action; and to prioritize these more highly. Private Sector voices need to be amplified in the policy-making processes shaping climate change action at all levels.

As such, we organized a national conference with our new partner, African Centre for Trade and Development (ACTADE) that brought together 100 participants from a broad spectrum of private sector players to discuss opportunities that exist to fight climate change, identify potential gaps limiting the fight against this global threat, whilst sharing experiences and perspectives on sustainability, mitigation and adaptation.

The event was graced by the German Ambassador to Uganda, Dr. Peter Blomyer and the Ugandan minister of state for water and environment. In his opening remarks, the Ambassador highlighted some of the dangers posed by climate change and the opportunities that could be exploited by the private sector. He asked whether there is anyone who still believed in weather focus and there was a resounding consensus that because of climate change, weather patterns have become so inconsistent and thus unreliable. He also briefly touched on the recent floods in Bundibugyo where about 10 people have also been killed by mud and landslides. “Uganda will lose over $32 billion between 2010 and 2050 due to climate change”. He lamented.

To counter these losses, Uganda must position herself to benefit from global climate action like the $100bn dollar committed to the causes. “As a country which is heavily reliant on the agricultural sector both for employment and export, practicing smart agriculture would provide several opportunities for investment” he emphasized. “Another way is to create synergies and enter private public partnership (PPP) to tap on both the creative/inventive spirit of the private sector and the experience/capacity of the government to address this complex global challenge” He concluded.

The State Minister for Water and Environment, Hon. Flavia Munaba re-echoed on the fact that Uganda is a signatory to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change that spearheads global climate action. “As a country, we have played a key role at the global level negotiating for and on behalf of the interests of our people. You may know that as a country, our contribution to the Greenhouse Gases that cause climate change is minimal; almost insignificant. However our people, especially the poor bear the brunt of the impacts of climate change” she lamented. He however noted that the country is making tremendous progress to mitigate and adapt to effects of climate change.

“As a country, Uganda is committed to addressing the climate change challenge. Major steps have been taken to create an enabling policy environment. Just last month, our Prime Minister signed the Paris Agreement which was negotiated for many years. We are also a party to the East African Climate Change Policy, and have our own domestic policy – the National Climate Change Policy (2015)” she noted. As a call to action “the government calls upon Private sector to integrate and implement the National Climate Change Policy, and also contribute to the shaping of the legal framework for climate change, which is in the offing” she concluded.

The keynote presentation by Dr. Najib Lukooya, a climate change specialist at KCCA laid the background for discussing the topic. He noted that despite concerted global efforts, greenhouse gas emissions continue to increase at an unprecedented level, calling for more robustness, innovations and creativity in addressing the challenge. “KCCA will for instance increase on enforcement on people who have continued to pollute catchement areas. We still have stubborn developers who fill our wetlands with soil at night but we have strengthened our new team

One of the panelists, Mr. Douglas Opio who heads the policy and research department at the Federation of Uganda Employees (FUE) gave the global perspective on climate change giving a brief background of the Brundtland Report which birth the age of SUSTAINABLE development. He further summarized the Paris Declaration according to a five thematic framework, namely: reducing the potential damages and losses of climate change, mitigation and adaptation, stock taking of what has already been done, accountability and transparency to international standards and global support structures. Douglas also noted the conflict in policy frameworks, for instance, “the same government that advocates for environment protection also allocates a wetland as an industrial park”. “There is thus need for more and better coordination between the various stakeholders to ensure coherence and effective implementation of the existing policies meant to address the challenges posed by climate change and to harness the opportunities presented as well”, he emphasized.

Mr. Ssali Godfrey of Uganda Manufacturers’ Association (UMA) made a call to all participants to rethink on their perception of the private sector as those in selfish pursuit of profits and nothing else. In fact, “we are all polluters. Not just the industries. So fighting climate change needs our concerted efforts” he reiterated. He also gave updates on the efforts by UMA to address climate change challenges, for instance, the association has already purchased 180 acres of land and has already started a campaign of planting natural trees to preserve and protect the environment. UMA has also kick started the green industrial campaign and currently supports 42 companies in Kampala doing waste recycling business. “We just have one planet to protect” he concluded.

Mrs. Jane Aik of the Uganda Institute of Bankers highlighted the relevance of climate financing which unfortunately has been neglected by most financial institutions because of the potential risks involved. She however noted that most banks have now started devoting more attention to smart agricultural financing and other initiatives like ecotourism.

During the plenary session, the participants urged government to take tougher action to fight environmental polluters and align the various policy frameworks to avoid misguided policy implementation. There was also a call by the government to direct environment levy taxes towards environment causes rather than allocating it to consolidated funds.

In his concluding remarks, Mathias Kamp gave the example of Germany which is a global icon on sustainable environmental governance and management. He maintained that Germany has been able to lead the way because of massive investments in climate smart initiatives that create sustainable ecosystems. Mr.Kamp also emphasized the fact that all evidence are in favor of the private sector to take lead on the climate change action. "If the private sector doesn't take action, they will ultimately suffer the most as was the case with Unilever that recently reported that they suffer financial losses of up to $330 million a year due to climate change related causes". He said.