''Drive climate change-fighting Pope in Kiira EV''

By Joachim Buwembo

When Pope Francis comes to Uganda in November, he will have a wonderful opportunity to push the climate change agenda, which is very close to his heart.

For those who are not conversant with the climate change phenomenon, it is about the change in temperature and  rainfall patterns and intensity occasioned by global warming, which in turn has been caused over the past decades by carbon emissions.
 

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Pope Francis has just concluded a six-day historic tour of the US. He will travel to Uganda in November

Factories and fuel burning cars have been pumping tonnes of carbon emissions in the atmosphere over the decades, creating some sort of invisible blanket up there and the discernible result has been a gradual rise in temperatures and a change in rainfall patterns that used to be predictable.

Unfortunately, forests which (used to) work as sinks to absorb the carbon dioxide from the atmosphere have been cut extensively, hastening the warming process.

Floods, drought, rising ocean levels (which make farming soils along the coasts salty), melting snow from  mountains and the poles are all symptoms of climate change, which a poor country like Uganda is less prepared to deal with. For example, the adverse effects of climate change in Uganda include the arrival of malaria in Kigezi due to the warmer temperatures in that part of the country where the disease was unknown in the past.

So precarious is the situation that the last Pope added destruction of the environment to the deadly sins that a believer can commit. Obviously, saving the world of man from climate change requires the reduction of carbon emissions and reafforestation.

To achieve this, scientists are working tirelessly to find different ways of generating and consuming energy. You may have heard of the breakthrough of the solar powered flight that set out recently to go round the world.

However, before the solar flights become commercially viable, you could also have heard the numerous debates of land being allocated for biofuels as substitutes for the deadly fossil fuels at the expense of food production.
 

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Since motor vehicles are almost the biggest culprits in emitting carbon in the air, fuel-efficient cars are one of the most urgently required innovations today. That is why right thinking persons frown at big, fuel guzzling cars even as less informed Ugandans admire them as a symbol of success.

You can see why the Pope chose to drive to the White House in a Baby Fiat which looked like an indictment against the fuel guzzlers that provided his escort.

If the Pope had his way, all cars in the world would be small like his Baby Fiat. If he could have his dream, they would all be electric cars. So when he arrives in Uganda in November, the best gift we can give him is to pick him from the airport in the Kiira EV, designed and built by Ugandan scientists.

Before you frown at the idea, be reminded that President Yoweri Museveni has ridden in the Kiira EV, as has the Inspector General of Police and several MPs.

And the Kiira Motors team has some two months to tune and fine-tune and retune the Kiira EV prototype before the Pope comes, if the organisers and the government can quickly grasp the significance of driving the Pope in it.

Since he took over the Holy See, this could be Pope Francis' greatest moment — being driven in a fuel-less car designed and built in a third world country.
 

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The Pope recently urged the world to act quickly to prevent "extraordinary" climate change from destroying the planet

For Uganda, this would doubtless be the chance to upstage all the countries that the Pope has visited and intends to visit. I cannot think of a better way for Ugandans to show support for the Pope's climate change struggle than to drive him in the Kiira EV.

I hope nobody in Uganda imagines that we can impress the Pope by driving him in a big car imported from Japan burning several litres of petrol in minutes. But here, we have an opportunity to touch his heart by showing Uganda's modest efforts to roll back climate change. Some points do not need to be overstressed.

Bring out the Kiira EV for the Pontifical visit.



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