MPs want to enact laws to mitigate climate change

Jul 25, 2016

Apart from guiding national efforts to mitigate and adapt to impact of climate change, Maikut said “Such a law should also spell out punitive measures to be used against Ugandans engaged in activities that fuel climate variability.”

 Chebet Maikut, the head of the Climate Change Department in the Ministry of Water and Environment has urged government to develop a legal instrument to guide national response to climate variability.

Apart from guiding national efforts to mitigate and adapt to impact of climate change, Maikut said "Such a law should also spell out punitive measures to be used against Ugandans engaged in activities that fuel climate variability."

Maikut was addressing, law makers of the Parliamentary forum on Climate Change (PFCC) on Monday, who were bidding farewell to the outgoing members of the forum at Imperial Royale Hotel Kampala.

Ora county (Zombo district) MP Lawrence Songa Biyika was elected the new chairperson of the forum replacing  former Bufumbira East MP Eddie Kwezera. Isingiro county MP Alex Byarugaba was elected the general secretary , while the  Tororo municipality MP  Yeri Apollo Ofwono became the treasurer.

The forum  addresses the need to enhance the legislative, oversight, budgeting and representation roles of parliamentarians as a mechanism for mainstreaming climate change concerns. 

The discussions attracted legislators, academics, researchers, the civil society, local authorities,   to debate the impact of and responses to climate change in East Africa was facilitated by International Union for conservation nature, Dan Church Aid and GIZ.

 Byarugaba said that if the proposed Bill is enacted into a law will help to broadly respond to challenges of climate variations country wide, and help government to get funds to fight the increasing climatic change and  advance effects.

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

Byarugaba  said " The proposed law It will also guide the transition of the country towards a low carbon climate resilient development."Byarugaba added.

Kawooya warned that transparency accountability for the funds of the forum should be observed, by the incoming official to reflect value for money.

Speaking at the inaugural national youth forum on climate change at the Kampala Serena Hotel recently, state minister for water and environment Mary Goretti Kitutu said the assessments indicated that water reserves in the country shrunk by over 20% in the past 10 years.

The "unprecedented" cutting down of forest cover and wetland destruction were some of the reasons given for this worrying tiding, along with man's exponential growth.

"Uganda is the leading consumer of charcoal and biomass in the region (East and Southern Africa). Every year, we lose hectares and hectares of forest cover. Now, if you know the science, we get tropical and temperate rains from this forest cover through ‘forest breezes'", the minister said.

 

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