THREATS AND IMPACT OF
CLIMATE CHANGE: CASE STUDYUGANDA
ITU Workshop “Moving to a Green
Economy through ICT Standards” 6th -8th
September 2011
By: Nakiguli Helen Cynthia
Uganda Communications Commission
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
2
BACKGROUND
Uganda-Land locked
country
Popn-35m with growth
rate of 3%pa
Wetland-15% of total land
area⁽⁵⁾
Trees, forests, woodland14% of land surface (45% in 1890)⁽⁵⁾
Holiday like weatherpleasant and enjoyable temp
Agriculture as main stay
of its economy (const.34% of GDP, 81%
of country's employment, therefore vulnerable to climatic
variations)
3
THREATS/RISKS
7% of original wetland
in Uganda-converted to
other land issues -loss
of biodiversity⁽²⁾
82% of households use
firewood for cooking,
15.2% for charcoal,
94% biomass of all
energy consumed⁽²⁾
Current rate of
population growth is
too high to ensure
sustainable use of ENR
7% of households
receive main grid
electricity⁽¹⁾
Increasing demand of
forest products and
forest land
Increased climate
variability- too many
rains in some areas and
drought in other areasfarmers uncertain of
cessation of rainfall
seasons
4
CURRENT INDICATORS/IMPACTS
Climate Variability
Prolonged heavy
rains
Increased floods,
Home displacement,
Destroy
infrastructure,
Elnino rains
(1997/98)- claimed
lives-cholera
Reduced agriculture
prodn,
Shortage of rainsdrought
Food shortage,
Disease prone,
Death
Landslides -Bududa
5
Mabira forest reserve(above), Siltation impact on lake Wamala (below)⁽⁸⁾
Wetland and river bank degradation (above),
Kampala-Byaise flooding (below)⁽⁸⁾
6
CONSTRAINTS OF CONSERVATION/ADAPTATION
Technical
Social
Economic
Political
• 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
• 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
• No safety regulations, policies, guidelines developed
• Political interference and investments
7
POSSIBLE STRATEGIES AND INTERVENTIONS
8
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
9
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.
10
REFERENCES
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
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
11