Ministry for climate change needed

Jan 18, 2016

The threat of climate change on humanity further became alarming with Uganda itself experiencing ‘deadly mudslides of all time,’ increasingly erratic weather events such as prolonged droughts.

By Boaz Opio

Climate change thought is currently the most important underlying force behind our social, political and economic policies and practices.  

Despite this, significant levels of inefficiencies in handling environmental matters still reign Uganda's ministry of Water and Environment. Could these problems be solved by rethinking the ministerial structures?

Led by Prof. Ephraim Kamuntu, the agency and its affiliates such as NEMA and Water and Sewage Corporation is tasked with ensuring provision of quality water and environmental protection services in Uganda.

But, as climate change threats became increasingly worrying in the past few decades, the government was in 2008 forced to propagate Climate Change Department CDC within the ministry as a branch for strengthening Uganda's implementation of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) and its Kyoto Protocol (KP).

The threat of climate change on humanity further became alarming with Uganda itself experiencing ‘deadly mudslides of all time,' increasingly erratic weather events such as prolonged droughts.

All this new burdens did not only add not only task of the responsible department grew, but the specialty requirement was steepened.  

Today, the unit is overburdened by enormous technical tasks wanting an independent administration and management. If in-time attention is not given here, the department is sure to suffer increasing efficiency as climate change science becomes increasingly complex. Try asking the delegates who attended COP21 if they mustered everything!
 
Or ever asked why Uganda was unable to finish and submit its Intended Nationally Determined Contributions (INDC's) in time? The technical document required networked consultations with different stakeholders in order to come up with ways Uganda wants to help the world combat climate change.
 
By the time United Nation's Framework convention was mounting pressures on countries to hasten the preparation of their INDC's as Paris talks got closer, the little roomed corridor in our Ministry was on fire, sweating and unable to catch up with the deadline.

But you can't blame anyone now. The fact is, Climate Change technical capacity should be steeped in Uganda's system and Climate Change challenge already qualifies to for a ministry of its own. Some developed countries, for instance, have already pushed the discipline into higher learning curriculum as an independent course of study: Bachelors of Climate change.

If we want to change the world climate, then we've got to change the way we do the things. It is a reality that as human society pushes ahead, new challenges demanding changes in this and that sprout.

Climate change has been said to be the biggest issue of the 21st century. "Not terrorism, not human rights, not political strife, but climate change" said President Barrack Obama during his address in the opening ceremony of the just concluded 2015 climate change conference famously known as COP21 in Paris.

As a result, the level of attention given by the international community to move the world away from the epidemic of carbon pollution has become intense, requiring developing countries like Uganda to ambitiously expand their horizon in the related area if we'll keep up with the demands of Paris Agreement we already appended our signatures on.

In November 2015, Climate Investment Fund endorsed over $200 million to be invested by the government in renewable energy solutions. Other simultaneous grants have been promised by an array of international green investors.

Ideally, with the existing framework of the associated ministry, these handouts might fail produce ideal impacts in altering the Uganda's carbon trajectory towards a sustainable future we want for our children.

To block the inherent bureaucratic and technical loopholes hindering concentrated National efforts in handling global warming, why not form an autonomous ministry of climate change?



 

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