Tuesday 23 February 2016

The Paris Agreement is not falling in a vacuum.

Delegates Launching the NAPA Evaluation Study at the Workshop
At a workshop organized by non-party stakeholders under Climate Action Network Uganda (CAN-U) and Environment and Natural Resource Civil Society Organizations (ENRCSO) Network through partners: Action Aid Uganda;  Advocates Coalition for Development and Environment (ACODE); Environmental Management for Livelihood Improvement Bwaise Facility (EMLI); Environment Alert (EA); International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) and OXFAM working in collaboration with the Climate Change Department of the Ministry of Water and Environment to dialogue on the Outcomes of the COP21/CMP11 held in Paris, France.
Approx. 204 (71 female and 133 males) participated, representing Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs), Development Partners, Civil society Organizations, Media Houses, Academia, and Indigenous peoples, who dialogued on the implications of the Paris Agreement to Uganda.

At the Workshop, Hon. Wilberforce Kisamba- Mugerwa (PhD), the Chairperson-National Planning Authority, representing the Minister of Water and Environment urged District Local Governments & MDAs to reflect climate change in the budget circular call in addition to building their capacities to address climate change issues.
Mr. Chebet Maikut, Commissioner, Climate Change Department-Ministry of Water and Environment and UNFCCC Focal point informed the Workshop that Uganda had taken steps to implement some of the COP21 Outcomes. Among them included; notifying the UNFCCC Secretariat of Uganda’s priority adaptation and resilience needs for possible support. The country had commenced the process of ratification and domestication of the Paris Agreement. To this effect, Government has established: 
  • National Steering Committee on the Implementation of the Paris Agreement 
  • Multi-sectoral National Projects Development Coordination Committee on Climate Change to be chaired by NPA
The workshop highlighted a number of issues: Adaptation still an issue for developing countries; no target for adaptation finance, Agreement fall short of gender consideration; loss of differentiation between Annex I & II countries; capacity building to be coordinated under a global body; Uganda enclosed with software technology and not yet undertaken the technology needs assessment (TNA); low involvement of private sector; Agreement creates momentum for Uganda’s Climate Law formulation.

The Workshop recommended: popularization of the INDC & Paris Agreement; build on existing programs and projects to implement the Paris Agreement; build capacity of the various stakeholders to effectively implement the Paris Agreement; establish a climate change trust fund and build supporting institutions to ensure sustainability; pioneer the mobilization of internal sources of revenue to avoid over reliance on donors e.g. fuel and emission tax among others as practiced in countries like Tanzania.

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