1. THREATS AND IMPACT OF CLIMATE CHANGE: CASE STUDY- UGANDA
ITU Workshop “Moving to a Green Economy through ICT Standards” 6th -8th September 2011
By: Nakiguli Helen Cynthia
Uganda Communications Commission

2. CONTENT Background Threats/risks Current indicators/impacts
Constraints of conservation and adaptation
Possible strategies and interventions
Proposed/potential interventions for ICTs to Tackle climate change
Conclusion
References

3. BACKGROUND
Uganda-Land locked country
Wetland-15% of total land area⁽⁵⁾
Holiday like weather- pleasant and enjoyable temp
Popn-35m with growth rate of 3%pa
Trees, forests, woodland-14% of land surface (45% in 1890)⁽⁵⁾
Agriculture as main stay of its economy (const.34% of GDP, 81% of country's employment, therefore vulnerable to climatic variations)

4. THREATS/RISKS
7% of original wetland in Uganda-converted to other land issues -loss of biodiversity⁽²⁾
Current rate of population growth is too high to ensure sustainable use of ENR
Increasing demand of forest products and forest land
82% of households use firewood for cooking, 15.2% for charcoal, 94% biomass of all energy consumed⁽²⁾
7% of households receive main grid electricity⁽¹⁾
Increased climate variability- too many rains in some areas and drought in other areas-farmers uncertain of cessation of rainfall seasons

5. CURRENT INDICATORS/IMPACTS
Climate Variability
Prolonged heavy rains
Increased floods,
Home displacement,
Elnino rains (1997/98)- claimed lives-cholera
Destroy infrastructure,
Reduced agriculture prodn,
Landslides -Bududa
Shortage of rains-drought
Food shortage,
Disease prone,
Death

6. Wetland and river bank degradation (above), Kampala-Byaise flooding (below)⁽⁸⁾
Mabira forest reserve(above), Siltation impact on lake Wamala (below)⁽⁸⁾

7. CONSTRAINTS OF CONSERVATION/ADAPTATION
Technical
Meteorological centers. Low capacity in both financial and human resources to acclimatize to climate change-Limited requisite expertise⁽¹⁾
Weak coordination mechanisms⁽¹⁾
Un reliable scientific data
Social Economic
Inadequate conceptualization of the importance of weather and climate information⁽¹⁾
Limited awareness levels-comfortable with what we have/blindness- as it was, it shall forever be….Low appreciation of the challenge
Increasing population-high agricultural and settlement demands
Political
No safety regulations, policies, guidelines developed
Political interference and investments

8. POSSIBLE STRATEGIES AND INTERVENTIONS
Implementation of the UNFCCC- activities⁽¹⁾
National climate change policy
Identify every sector role in climate change actions
Redefine climate change into development planning
Increase awareness
build capacity through institutional manpower development
strengthen climate /weather monitoring
Provide and promote incentives for clean development
Develop and implement incentive mechanisms for reduced emissions
E-waste management
Clean energy-renewable energy sources
Implement various climate change interventions and strategies
Identify how ICT can aid in monitoring, mitigation and adapting to climate change

9. PROPOSED/POTENTIAL INTERVENTIONS FOR ICTs TO TACKLE CLIMATE CHANGE
Green ICT services/facilities and products
Renewable energy sources for powering ICT facilities in rural areas
support smart communications- e-meetings, teleconferences
Environmental monitoring
Construct automatic weather monitoring stations, early warning system in disaster prone areas⁽⁹⁾
Data capturing and recording of GHG emissions
Build capacity in environmental monitoring using ICT
E-waste management
Develop and implement an e-waste management policy
Establishment of regional collection centers, recycling and disposal of E-waste
Sensitisation of e-waste management
Incentives in place for e-waste collection

10. CONCLUSION Current trends indicate persistent degradation in ENR
Reduced agricultural production
Climate change will affect every sector of development
Uganda is making concerted efforts to combat /deal with climate change
Important to identify priority activities that respond to adaptation of climate change-opportunities to develop climate change mitigation and adaptation programmes.
ICTs can play a major role in mitigating impacts of climate change as well as aiding climate change adaptation.

11. REFERENCES National Development Plan(Uganda)2010/11
State of the environment report for Uganda 2008
Climate change and agriculture 2008
Hidden Heat: Climate Change in Uganda (Google-20/8/2011)
A content analysis report on climate change impacts, vulnerability and adaptation in Uganda (2001)
Status of forests in Uganda- Africa Journal of Ecology
Assessing the impacts of climate change in Uganda –World water assessment programme
Applications of ecosystem approach in environmental inspections (NEMA)
ICT and climate change- Ministry of ICT, Uganda